GAYA — Mali International Dance Biennial
GAYA — Mali International Dance Biennial · Bamako, Mali
The festival
GAYA is Mali's International Dance Biennial. Its first edition was officially launched on Saturday, October 10, 2026 in Bamako, at the headquarters of the I Dance'O association, in Sabalibougou Courani, in front of artists, creators, cultural professionals and representatives of the diplomatic corps. The ceremony was presided over by Mamou Daffé, Minister of Crafts, Culture, Hotel Industry and Tourism, represented by his mission manager Attaher Maiga, with the co-sponsorship of Oumou Sall Seck, Minister of National Entrepreneurship, Employment and Vocational Training.
The biennial, which was organized by the I Dance'O association, founded and chaired by dancer and choreographer Bibata Ibrahim Maiga, formed at the Conservatoire des arts et métiers multimédias Balla Fasseké Kouyaté in Bamako and at the Sables School of Senegal, is based on three pillars: transmission, creation and dissemination. Its first cycle runs from October 10, 2026 to November 12, 2028 and is a training, artistic research and co-creation between artists of different backgrounds and languages. In the Songhai language, Gaya evokes the light that crosses the cracks of a wall. From the day of the launch, a panel gathered professionals around cultural mediation.
Festival TV told her about her birth article « GAYA: Mali launches its international dance biennial », in the field with Mory Touré , journalist and Festival Explorer , which moderated the launch.
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Key facts
Name: GAYA — Mali International Dance Biennial. Place: Bamako, Mali (seat of the association I Dance'O, Sabalibougou Courani). First edition: launched on Saturday, October 10, 2026; biennial cycle 2026-2028, until November 12, 2028. Organization: Association I Dance'O, founding president Bibata Ibrahim Maïga. Signature: transmission, creation, dissemination. Official contact: in the course of verification.
To see around the festival
The National Museum of Mali — created in 1953, near the hill of the presidential palace in Bamako, the country's great museum: sculptures, masks, textiles and musical instruments, and temporary exhibitions all year round. Mali National Park — the vast landscaped garden of the capital, on the banks of the Niger River: botanical gardens, water bodies and walks over several hundred hectares. Bamako's artisanal market — in the heart of the Grand Marché, the artisans of the capital: bogolan, leather, jewelry and sculptures, Malian know-how in the showcase.