Amy Sall Recommends

I love the entire Pharoah album, but I especially love the title track, "Harvest Time." It's such a beautiful, medicinal, timeless piece of music. I listen to it when I meditate, when I am feeling down, when I am in a good mood, when I am going for a walk, any time really. This song has been woven into my daily life and has been a sonic balm for me ever since I first heard it a few years ago.

Bissap is a Senegalese hibiscus drink, but it's common and popular throughout West Africa and the Caribbean and is known under different names. I think bissap, like plantain and mango, is a delicious Pan-African unifier, and it's probably my favorite thing to drink. I am especially a fan of my mother's bissap.

This is one of my favorite films by one of my favorite filmmakers, Ousmane Sembène. It was Sembène's first feature film and has become a classic gem and emblem of African cinema. Both in its aesthetic and sociopolitical dimensions, the film is powerful and timeless. It's a stunning, yet heartbreaking, film that speaks to the postcolonial conditions and realities of the time and today: racism, immigration, loneliness, and alienation, to name a few. 

I love returning to images of Octavia Butler’s notebooks time and time again for motivation and inspiration, especially during times when my process and vision become blurry. Each time I revisit her notebooks, I am in awe of her solid conviction and self-belief. I love peering into the inner worlds of people I admire through their personal writings. Her notebooks are a beautiful reminder of the power of belief, persistence, focus, and diligent work. She was dedicated to her craft and decreed her success into existence. I am deeply inspired by this.

This archive is a treasure trove of Malian photography and an amazing, accessible educational resource that I have leaned on for years (and still do). Hundreds of images have been digitized from negatives from a small selection of Malian photographers, including the renowned Malick Sidibé. The most recent addition to the archive is the work of Félix Diallo. I can spend hours going through this rich archive. It is also an edifying experience because going through the archive aids me in my autodidactic archival practice in my private collection.