Mandiaye Samb, was born on 18th September 1956, in Diourbel a little town located 140km from Dakar.
He started his artwork 32 years ago, when he decided to commit himself to art while finishing his studies. Consequently, he would travel with his father, who conducted business in Senegal and other countries such as Mali, the Ivory Cost, Guinea and Central Africa, where the art of butterfly wing collages was already famous. These many trips throughout Africa with his father enabled Mandiaye to uncover the abundant local artistic creations sold on markets, while furthering his passion for art.

Soon enough his artistic sensitivity was stricken by the beauty of butterfly wing’s collages, to the extend he decided to become a professional in that creative field. Since then he started collecting butterflies. The most beautiful specimens were sold to collectors from Europe, America and Asia. The remaining butterflies were picked up and dried for the use of splendid butterfly wing collages, which at that time were already renowned.