Again, the honors go to M.I.A. Gallery for its inaugural spring show, post-colonial photography from the Malian studio of Malick Sidibe. A veteran photographer better known in France than here, he apprenticed in Bamako, the capital of Mali, just as colonial rule was coming to an end. Once he could afford a camera, he went freelance, soon becoming Bamako’s top party and studio photographer of the ’60s and ’70s. It was a giddy, heady time—the French were leaving, rock and roll was being discovered on LPs and transistor radios, and men and women were allowed to mingle at dances, where the girls wore miniskirts and the guys sharp suits and ties. Leave it to Western photojournalists to cover the famines and orphans. This is African photography for Africans—and it’s the best photo show I’ve seen here this year. BRIAN MILLER 1203-A Second Ave., 467-4927, m-i-a-gallery.com