Indigo
In Search of the Colour that Seduced the World
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- € 9,99
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- € 9,99
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'An eye-opening account of the controversial role this gorgeous, coveted pigment has played through the millennia' - Elle
'[McKinley's] discoveries resonate, and her unique experiences provide a vivid snapshot of the cultures she encountered in Africa' - Washington Post
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Indigo is the rich, electrifying history of a precious dye: its relationship to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, its profound influence on fashion, and its spiritual significance - all very much alive today.
But it is also the story of a personal quest: Catherine McKinley's ancestors include a clan of Scots who wore indigo tartan, several generations of Jewish 'rag traders' and Massachusetts textile factory owners, and African slaves who were traded along the same Saharan routes as indigo.
Her journey takes her to nine West African countries and is resplendent with powerful lessons of heritage and history which shape the way she understands her world at home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this memoir of longing, community, and personal maturation, McKinley (The Book of Sarahs), half African-American by birth, adopted and raised by white parents who were plant devotees, seeks her roots through the intertwined European and African history of the once rare indigo. A plant dye long prized for its deep blue color, indigo became a staple of trade from Africa across the Mediterranean and Europe; indigo and the fabric dyed from it evoke stories of slavery (past and present), global trade, and entrenched cultural traditions. McKinley's journey to the source of indigo leads her unexpectedly to politically unstable areas like the Ivory Coast, as well as to Ghana, Mali, and other African countries, where she is welcomed. McKinley's passion for the rare blue dye created from ash, urine, and leaves, and used to painstakingly imprint storytelling designs leads to intense friendships and an introduction to the complexity of social and economic status in a continent so far removed from the woman who inspired McKinley's journey her grandmother a questioning, tartan-clad woman in a rich blue coat. Photo insert; map.
