Habibi Yayé Keita (b. 1998, Mali) is a Malian visual artist based in Bamako. The daughter of a decorator and calligrapher, Keita developed an early interest in drawing and painting. Keita graduated in 2020 with a degree in visual arts from the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers Multimédia in Bamako.

Habibi Yayé Keita

Keita’s distinctive style combines pointillism, braiding, and textile techniques. Drawing from her heritage and experience styling hair, she explores African hairstyles as powerful modes of cultural expression and self-fashioning, reflecting on their role in shaping identity and asserting origins. Her portraits of women with vitiligo, a skin condition causing depigmentation, frequently stigmatized in African societies, celebrate diversity and self-acceptance. Through these subjects, Keita highlights the body as a site of resilience and empowerment, addressing themes of identity, gender, and the beauty of difference.

Keita has participated in solo and group exhibitions across West Africa and Europe, including the Netherlands, France, Senegal, Mali and Ivory Coast.

The Twins, 2025, mixed media on canvas, 120 x 160 cm