This summer Manchester is filled with the sights and sounds of West Africa as three galleries in the city host The We Face Forward exhibition.

Last week See Africa Differently ventured from our humble office somewhere on the River Thames and headed north to Manchester to find out exactly what was facing forward. We were greeted with photography, painting, multi-media installation, sculpture and sound. This week we'll be telling you what we saw, what we heard and the ties that bind Africa and Manchester. 

The Gallery of Costume is hosting an amazing exhibition of Malian Studio Photography. The exhibition features photographs -above-  by Malick Sidibe, Abderramane Sakaly, Soungalo Male and Hamidou Maiga. These photographs from the second half of the twentieth century reveal a country in flux, with studio images that embrace new styles and ambitions. These capitivating photographs hail from across Mali from Bamko to Timbuktu and feature a range of portraits across Mali society.

Above you can see some of our favourite images from the exhibition.