Salimata Diop is an art critic, curator and composer.  She grew up in Saint-Louis, then Dakar, Senegal, before studying Foreign Literatures, Languages and Civilizations (Hypokhâgne/Khâgne Maison d'Education de la Légion d'Honneur & La Sorbonne Paris IV), and a Master's degree in the History of Art and Collections (Warwick University & IESA, UK). She began by making film portraits of artists for the ‘African Masters’ television series (El Anatsui, Mary Sibande...). After which she became programme director of the Africa Centre in London, and artistic director of the Also Known As Africa (AKAA) fair in Paris. Then in 2017, with the collector Amadou Diaw, she created the Musée de la Photographie in Saint-Louis (MuPho), which she led until 2018.

She has pursued her career as a curator through a number of exhibitions and publications. These include Art Africa Fair (2017), Cape Town, for which she organized and curated the Bright Young Things prize, revealing the work of artist Laeïla Adjovi – future Grand Prix winner of the Dakar Biennale in 2018-, La Villa Rouge (2018), Les Chants invincibles (2022) as part of the OFF of the Dakar Biennale, and more recently Why I tore off my skin , the first solo exhibition of French-Cameroonian artist Beya Gilles Gacha at the Tropiques Atrium in Fort de France, in June 2023. Most recently she took on the role of artistic director of the 2024 Dakar Biennale and co-founded the black women artists collective ESUON (eu sou um oceano negro) with artist Beya Gilles Gacha.

She was named one of the “50 most influential Africans” by Jeune Afrique magazine (2018), and one of the “avant-garde Frenchwomen under 30” by Vanity Fair magazine (2018).