Christmas Night

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Artist Malick Sidibé (Malian, 1936–2016)

Title Christmas Night (Nuit de Noël)

Date 1963

Medium Inkjet print

Dimensions Image: 8 3/16 x 8 1/4 in. (20.8 x 20.95 cm)
Sheet: 11 15/16 x 9 7/16 in. (30.32 x 23.97 cm)
Framed (Exhibition Frame): 21 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 1 in. (53.66 x 53.66 x 2.54 cm)

Credit Line Museum purchase with funds from the Class of 1949 Endowed Curatorship for the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2005.38

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About this Work

This is one of Sidibé’s most widely published and recognized photographs of Bamako’s youth. In an interview in 2003, Sidibé describes this photograph: “For me, Nuit de Noël is a moment of innocence. I knew that they were brother and sister. It was at their home, the boy was learning to dance. They were looking at each other; it is an instance full of intimacy and it emits an infinite tenderness. Both of them are there, totally at one with each other, they are not looking into each other’s eyes and are smiling profoundly.”

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Christmas Night | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2005.38