Fatoumata Diawara adds collaboration to the mix on an album of reconciliation and largesse. “It’s time for me to invite you… into my world,” she tells Lucy Hallam
In an air-conditioned room on a quiet, tree-lined street in Mali's capital, Bamako, three young men sat at desks with cameras mounted overhead, picked up one page of parchment at a time from tall stacks at their left, clicked the shutter button and then reached for the next page. Click. Flash. Repeat.
Google has launched Mali Magic, a digital treasure trove with the objective of preserving and showcasing Mali’s historic and contemporary art and culture in Africa.
ISHKAR uses craft objects to show a different side to countries in conflict
Social enterprise ISHKAR provides a retail platform for designers and makers in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. In this interview, co-founder Flore de Taisne says she hopes to change perceptions of places labelled as war zones. We need to tell stories of places like Afghanistan that aren t just about bombs and what you can read in the headlines, said De Taisne. We wanted to create a platform for artists, photographers and artisans in these places, to showcase what they do.
Flore de Taisne and Edmund Le Brun lived in Afghanistan before founding ISHKAR. Photo is by Alun Callender