Among its many legacies, colonialism bred a unique fashion culture across the African continent, one that owes its dynamism and innovation to its inner complexities. Designer Wanda LePhoto has been exploring the cultural syncretism of contemporary sartorial expressions in his native South Africa for a long time. “Black Renaissance” is the latest collection of LePhoto’s eponymous brand, peeling back the …

Last week I stumbled upon the online exhibition Sailors and Daughters: Early Photography and the Indian Ocean curated by Erin Haney, which exhibits photographic documents from the early 20th century of the everyday lives of the maritime societies of East Africa, the Persian Gulf and other Indian Ocean ports. This is a notable curatorial work for many reasons, not least because it shares material that is …