"Four sisters in the drawing were photographed by Chief S.O. Sometime between 1942-1966 at Ideal Photo Studio in Benin City, Nigeria. When I first encountered the photograph I was suddenly struck by my own memories of the large celebrations my family was invited to attend when we lived in Khartoum, Sudan in the early 1980s. At the time, I was about 5 or 6 years old, but I still have quite vivid memories of carpeted living rooms lined with chairs and couches upon which beautifully attired young women would be sitting socializing. I remember these women draped in beautiful sheer and embroidered fabrics, glints of golden bangles and dangling earrings peeking out between the folds of cloth. I remember the smell of Oudh perfumes mingling with the smoke of cooking fires outside. I remember glints of hand-blown glassware filled with ice and coca-cola. In the drawing, Desirée, I wanted to capture all of these many layers of memory and the sensations that came with them, and to reflect on those special occasions that gave women the chance to dress in their finery and interact with one another in spaces that were specially reserved for them." - Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, 2018.
