On February 21, 2026, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University hosted a keynote conversation in conjunction with the exhibition Hamdia Traoré: Des marabouts de Djenné and Muslim Portraiture in Mali. Introduced by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Block Museum of Art, the program brought together Candace M. Keller, Associate Professor of Art History & Visual Culture at Michigan State University and Director of the Archive of Malian Photography, and Malick Sitou, photographer and custodian of the Tijani Sitou archive. The conversation was moderated by Uche Okpa-Iroha, photographer, founder of the Nlele Institute, and the Block’s 2026 Curatorial Graduate Fellow.

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Traoré’s portraits of marabouts in Djenné reflect close personal connections to his sitters and a sustained effort to document a living intellectual and spiritual tradition. Keller described the series as an evolving archive shaped by long-term engagement with individuals and community histories. Each portrait conveys individuality through carefully arranged objects and setting, with meanings that are not always immediately visible.

Sitou emphasized that Traoré’s images carry more information than they first appear to. For those familiar with the cultural and spiritual context, details of posture and dress signal knowledge and authority.

“There are more meanings than meet the eye… a lot of unspoken messages.”

The conversation also addressed how Traoré’s work builds on earlier traditions of Malian studio photography while introducing new formal and conceptual approaches. Sitou reflected on his own training as a photographer under his father, Tijani Sitou, and the photographer Malick Sidibé, describing mentorship as foundational to learning not just technique but a way of seeing.

Keller discussed her work with the Archive of Malian Photography, addressing how photographic histories are preserved and circulated. Developed in collaboration with photographers and their families, the archive responds to concerns around preservation and access as photographs enter global art markets, balancing visibility with control over how work is shared and understood.

About the Speakers

Candace M. Keller is Director of the Archive of Malian Photography and Associate Professor of Art History & Visual Culture at Michigan State University, where she serves as the Associate Director of Matrix: The Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research on the histories of photography in Mali, West Africa, has appeared in several publications, invited lectures, and conference presentations, and has been generously supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the British Library. Her book, Imaging Culture: Photography in Mali, West Africa was published by Indiana University Press in 2021.

Malick Sitou began his career as a professional photographer in Mali, under the mentorship of his father, Tijani Sitou, and his namesake Malick Sidibé. Since 2004, he has conducted research on the histories of photographic practice in Mali alongside Dr. Candace M. Keller. In 2006, a collection of his photographs was exhibited at Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art. Six years later, he joined the Archive of Malian Photography as the custodian of Tijani Sitou’s photographic archive. Today, Sitou often serves as a consultant for exhibitions of West African photography and has participated in panel discussions and interviews for various projects. He also holds the position of Court Planner at Bridgeport Judicial District in Connecticut, after earning his M.A. degree in Global Development and Peace in 2019.