This artistic event that celebrates the "pope of African photography", highlights the art of the continent, said Qotbi in a speech at the opening of the exhibition "Africa seen by its photographers: From Malick Sidibé to today," emphasizing its novelty with pictures exposed for the first time.

Although the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain has already presented a retrospective devoted to Malick Sidibé, some works of this leading figure in photographic art have not been exhibited, he said.

Speaking on this occasion, the curator of the exhibition Jeanette Zwingenberger stressed that this artistic event excels in its authenticity, with ambitious portraiture that illustrate contemporary, societal, cultural, political and ecological challenges of the African continent.

Zwingenberger, who is also a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), said that in addition to Sidibé, the exhibition celebrates 23 African artists, including Zanele Muholi, Pieter Hugo, Osvalde Lewat, and Mário Macilau, who give visibility to people facing precariousness of existence and dissolution of identity.