Today's guest is Catherine E. Mckinley, a curator and author of four critically acclaimed books, most recently The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women, which won the inaugural Eiger Foundation Prize for Best African Photobook. An exploration of Africa's photographic history, fashion, trade history, and African women's selfhood, the book features works from The McKinley Collection, her personal archive representing African photographies from 1870 to the present. Works from The McKinley Collection have been shown in international museums and galleries. She lives in New York City.
Catherine and I spoke about building the McKinley collection, clothes as monuments, how her work on textile traditions informed the compilation of the book, the impact of the camera and sewing machine on Africa's cultural and economic landscapes, the place of African Women in the archive and more.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Editing: Wana Benjamin
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Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com