World Puppetry Day 2026
2026 Poster
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2026 Artist: Yaya Coulibaly
Yaya Coulibaly at the Cartier Foundation on December 12, 2017.
Yaya Coulibaly is a Malian puppeteer, storyteller, magician, and musician, born on 26 April 1959 in Koula, in the Koulikoro district. His birth was a special day, marked by the Jo ceremony. The power of the ancestors was therefore passed down to him, even though he was not the eldest to whom it should have been granted, according to tradition.
A direct descendant of Biton Coulibaly, King of Ségou, he was initiated into mystical knowledge at a very young age and inherited from his father an extensive knowledge of puppetry, which plays a central role in the initiation rites of secret societies.
Later, Yaya Coulibaly enrolled at the Institut National des Arts (INA) in Bamako for basic classical training. After this initial period, he pursued studies in France, notably at the Institut International de la Marionnette (IIM), followed by further training at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et de la Marionnette (ESNAM) in Charleville-Mézières.
During his studies in Europe, he interacted with ethnologists and actively contributed to the development of Western knowledge of traditional West African societies. He also took part in scientific research related to these societies.
For several decades, Yaya Coulibaly, heir to a very old puppet collection, has been a fervent guardian of the Bamanan tradition, one of the oldest and richest in Africa. His collection, which now numbers nearly 25,000 puppets, continues to grow with new creations of various kinds.
Thanks to his extensive traditional training, Yaya Coulibaly has developed a dynamic and contemporary form of puppet theatre, with which he now tours the world.
In 1980, he founded the Sogolon troupe, named after the mother of Emperor Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire. The first of its kind in Mali, the company has, since its creation, worked to promote theatrical expression influenced by the Bamanan, Somono, and Bozo cultures through the art of puppetry in Mali, Africa, and beyond. It creates productions, tours internationally, participates in major festivals, and trains professionals from Mali, Africa, Europe, America, and Asia, including artists and academics.
In 2006, his collection was exhibited at the Gold of Africa Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. This exhibition presented antique and contemporary puppets of various types—glove puppets, string puppets, shadow puppets—as well as masks and statues. That same year, he participated with the Handspring Puppet Company in the exhibition At Arm’s Length: The Art of African Puppetry at The Africa Center in New York. He has also been featured in many other prestigious events and venues worldwide, including the Galerie Echomusée in Paris’s 18th arrondissement, Les Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels, Documenta in Germany, Galerie Le Manège in Dakar, La Rotonde des Arts and MASA in Abidjan, MAPAS in Spain, and the Journées Théâtrales de Carthage (JTC, Carthage Theatre Days) in Tunis.
Drawing inspiration from tales and moral lessons drawn from African oral tradition, Yaya Coulibaly highlights the values he holds dear: courage, love, and prosperity. A man of conviction and a steadfast defender of individual and collective freedom, he tirelessly condemns war and the extremism he describes as the scourge of our time.
An eternal child and tireless traveller, he attributes a thousand and one roles to puppeteers: scientists, historians, therapists, geomancers, sorcerers, healers, trainers, and teachers of life in the service of life.
A family man, this puppet magician has also taken the time to pass on his knowledge to his children, ensuring the future of the art. “I consider puppets to be valuable objects that must be passed on to younger generations,” he confided.
After several decades dedicated to the art of puppetry, Yaya Coulibaly felt it was necessary to establish a festival that would serve as an annual celebration of puppetry: the Sogobô International Festival of Bamako, whose first edition will take place in May 2024, and of which he is the honorary president of the steering committee.