A beautiful work bringing together numerous photos as well as texts and interviews with around ten personalities finally retraces the career of the famous Ivorian fashion designer Pathé’O. A name that has become a style sign that we find everywhere in the African diaspora and on the continent, whether in Ivory Coast, South Africa or even in Benin, Mali, Cameroon…
Pathé’O, these are clothes worn by Mr. and Mrs. Everyman as well as by celebrities from the world of culture or politics, among whom we found Nelson Mandela himself. It is also a state of mind recognizable by the diversity of fabrics and colors, attention to detail, sense of drape and great attention to finishes.
Originally from the village of Guibaré in Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) where he was born in the early 1950s, Ainé Pathé Ouédraogo emigrated to the Ivory Coast at the age of 15, where he worked as a farmer before arriving in Abidjan. In the popular district of Treichville, he apprenticed with a tailor who would become his master. A passion for clothing seized him. About ten years later, in 1977, Pathé’O launched itself as a creator. His career took off, notably thanks to the Uniwax scissors of gold competition which he won in 1987. Today, Pathé’O still operates in Treichville, where he runs a workshop with more than fifty machines…
From the journalist Denise Epoté to the economist Célestin Monga via the fabric anthropologist Anne Grosfilley, connoisseurs, friends and admirers of Pathé’O tell the story of the timeless creator and businessman, one of the first to have known highlight traditional African textiles such as faso dan fani, fabric from its country of origin. Creativity coupled with great know-how and success that does not preclude simplicity. Certainly the mark of a great one.
Published on the occasion of the Chéri Samba exhibition, currently at the Maillol Museum in Paris (until April 21, 2024), a catalog containing the works of the great Congolese painter, brought together by the collector Jean Pigozzi, allows you to have a nice idea of his work. Around fifty paintings are reproduced there and form a retrospective of 40 years of creation. We will of course recognize this so original surrealist style which is the signature of Chéri Samba.
The artist, born in 1956 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, who defines himself as a “painter-journalist”, in fact mixes numerous texts with paintings, thus adding a narrative, informative and even denunciatory dimension. His self-portrait dated 1975, dressed to the nines, is followed by an image of a man with two bodies or even a male mermaid character. We also come across a child soldier, an image of the former potentate Mobutu, scenes inscribed in places of worship, libation, women’s meetings…
Chéri Samba first painted representations of everyday life before giving his work a resolutely political orientation, questioning the state of his country and that of the world. His painting, exhibited in the greatest museums in the world, imposes its dreamlike power and inevitably calls out.
We already knew that Marguerite Abouet, the creator of the famous comic book heroines Aya de Yopougon and Akissi, has more than one trick up her sleeve. Provide her with a kitchen and a few ingredients and she will surely concoct dishes to savor like her stories. For the Ivorian author, who grew up surrounded by family cooking, “each dish tells a life story, an anecdote most often invented by women”.
This end of the year sees the reissue for our greatest pleasure of Délices d’Afrique, her cookbook initially published in 2012. She brings together key recipes from West Africa: bassamoise salad, grouper skewers, gouagouassou , saka-saka… But the book is above all an excuse for sharing, like when, in the back of the kitchen, dishes are being prepared, prepared by sisters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends.
“My friends, this book does not aim to teach you how to cook better,” warns Marguerite Abouet, “but to share with you some culinary advice from elsewhere to live better with your other half, alone, with family or with friends. friends. » We understand by turning the pages and discovering the associated illustrations by Agnès Maupré that the work is also a humorous viaticum, intended to answer some fundamental questions: “How to lose weight pleasantly and without too much physical effort” (answer: thanks to the grapefruit and shrimp of course) or “How to sober up your husband quickly? What dish to prepare to prevent him from going elsewhere? » A book album filled with the fantasy of a designer that we never tire of finding.
“In North Africa, life revolves around the most important passion: food. » With North Africa – The Cookbook, embark on a long journey of flavors through the richness and culinary diversity of four countries – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya – told in 445 recipes and 464 pages. An exploration that begins with breads and savory pastries, and ends with desserts and drinks.
In the meantime, we will be interested in raw and cooked salads, eggs, vegetables, semolina, pasta, rice and cereals, or even snails and offal. Each chapter offers clearly explained recipes, accessible to cooks of average expertise. But we also enjoy all the information concerning the origins of the dishes, their names according to geographical areas, their symbolism, the tasting tips… The very beautiful photos of the finalized dishes make your mouth water. Finally, other photos show the landscapes and populations of the countries crossed.
It took culinary author Jeff Koehler around twenty years to develop this sumptuous book, as sumptuous as it is impressive, enriched on each page with explanations collected from numerous chefs and amateur cooks. An exciting taste and cultural journey.