Biography of Prof. Yacouba Konaté

Full Professor of Philosophy at the University of Abidjan-Cocody, Professor Yacouba Konaté, current Director General of MASA (Abidjan Performing Arts Market) is also a museum curator, consultant in cultural development, art critic and expert on cultural development in the European Union.

Member of the Scientific Council of the Academy of Sciences, Culture and Arts of Africa and diasporas, he headed the Africa office of the Jean-Paul Blachère Foundation. In :
1998: Professor Fulbright at Stanford University;
2000: Chief of Staff at the Ivorian Ministry of Culture and Francophonie;

Director of the National Institute of Arts and Cultures.

2004-2008: Teacher at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales – France;

2006: Artistic Director of the Dakar Biennial.

2007: Teacher at Laval University in Canada and at the University of Florida, Gainesville;

2008: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA);

2009: Director of the Rotonde des Arts Contemporains in the Nour-al-Hayat Gallery, Plateau.

Since 2014: Director of the Abidjan Performing Arts Market (MASA)

Author of several books including :
Christian Lattier: The sculptor with bare hands (Editions Sépia, 1993);
Alpha Blondy: Reggae and Society in Black Africa (Karthala / CEDA, 1987);
The Dakar Biennial, For an aesthetic of contemporary African creation – face to face with Adorno, Harmattan, Paris, 2009.

Curator of many exhibitions :
International Fair of Fine Arts of Abidjan (May 2001);
Willie Bester exhibition in Brussels (April 2001);
Exhibition « Africa up to date » in Lille (September 2000);
« South meets West » in Accra and Bern (December 1999 and June 2000);
Africa Exhibition of the Dakar Biennale (2004).