In 1980 he formed his own puppet company, the Sogolon Puppet Troupe,[1] and has since become the leading custodian of the Bambara puppetry tradition, the oldest and richest of Africa's surviving puppetry traditions.
Speaking of his passion, Coulibaly said:[1] I depend on puppets, my family lives only for this.
This is my bank, this is my territory, this is my book, this is all my domain and every day that God gives us.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.
[2][3][4] A selection of this puppetry collection was exhibited in Germany, South Africa and USA.