Yaya Coulibaly (b. 1959) is a Malian puppet designer, puppeteer and storyteller. Born in a family of puppeteers with roots in the Bamana, he began his initiation into the of puppet and masquerade figures at the age of ten as an apprentice to his father. Later he studied art at the Bamako National Institute of the Arts, and puppet theatre at the Institute International de la Marionette in France. In 1980 he formed his own puppet company, the Sogolon Puppet Troupe, and has since become the leading custodian of the Bambara puppetry tradition, the oldest and richest of Africa’s surviving puppetry traditions. Coulibaly is the custodian of a vast collection of puppets, many of which have come down to him through his family.
Coulibaly has created a new and dynamic puppet theatre that draws from the ancient traditions of puppetry in West Africa. His performances incorporate traditional folk tales and legends and episodes from Mali’s great epics, as well as colonial history and commentary on contemporary life in Mali. The techniques in his performances include hand puppets, rod puppets, marionettes, masks and live music. Sogolon has performed in Europe and the USA. A selection of this puppetry collection was exhibited in South Africa and France.