Ibulliance: Through a Life Long Lens
In my parent's home, a large luminous book sat atop the volumes in their entry, calling me again and again into its pages where rich images of African ceremonies dazzled and intrigued me. I brought the two volume opus to my home after their passing, and added to it many others by the same two astonishing photographers, adding layer upon layer of our world's magnificent mystery to my mind map.
And then, one day decades later, in the home of a friend's friend in Nairobi, two women approach and introduce themselves to me. Carol and Angela, they simply say. I can hardly believe it, but looking into their eyes I know without doubt—these are the curious women behind the camera who chronicled the vanishing secret ceremonies of Africa. Standing in front of me are icons of curiosity and cultural respect, and a wildly adventurous spirit. Carol Beckwith, Angela Fisher? I venture, in a slightly stunned fan-girl way. Yes, yes. And we've been following Ibu for years, said they.
For 45 years, in over 45 countries, Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher have been respectfully documenting ritual life that almost no other people, outside those of the 150 groups they were invited to record, have ever seen. They've produced seventeen widely acclaimed books and five films, bringing them the United Nations Award for Excellence. They've collaborated with the National Geographic Society to produce ten feature articles including three covers, two lecture tours, two exhibitions; and been honored twice with the Annisfield-Wolf Book Award in race relations for outstanding contribution to the understanding of cultural diversity and prejudice. But even more significantly to me, Carol and Angela, many times over, have earned the trust of tribal leaders willing for them to share their storied but vulnerable sacred rites with others, like me, pouring over the astonishing narrative in their many books.
That takes a lot more than a good eye. That takes deep reciprocity and mutual respect. It takes humor and charm, which these two have in spades. It takes a passion for preserving what is almost lost, so that the cultural wisdom embedded in rites of passage—rites crafted to navigate life's uncertainties—are not forgotten, but remain a vibrant thread in our human story.
The next thing I know, we are plotting Carol and Angela's visit to the US from their homes in London and their now urgent work in Africa, as they chronicle the last of 13 groups before modernity snuffs out their legacies. The next thing I know, Angela and Carol are saying Yes to join Ibu for our International Women's Day celebration on March 7 focusing on Africa; saying Yes to present at our summit not just their fantastic images and video, but the stories behind them. The next thing I know we are six weeks away from their visit, and I am making ready to host an explosion of color, image, power, authenticity, and vivacity which lives in these women and in the cultures they serve.
If you're anywhere near Charleston on March 7, I urge you to come be in their warm presence, learn from their stories, and steep in the visual narrative of Africa through their thoughtful life-long lens—both at our Women In Africa Mini-Summit, and at our Waka Waka Gala that evening. As the colors of the world become more monochrome, scrubbed by modernity, the life force pulsing in these images reminds me of what poetry the world is losing, and what might yet be preserved. That is the work of Ibu, too. Honoring and sustaining the soul that lives in our diverse, dynamic cultural expressions, so that we might stand together and see the beauty of the whole.
All the best,
Susan Hull Walker
Creative Director + Founder
