CLONETTE uncovers the history of Africa's first industrial doll, originally manufactured in an Indian owned plastics factory in 1960 in newly Independent Ghana--the result of a contest involving market women. More than a doll, originally used for play and ritual, Clonette has become an international cult object. She is a curiosity you see on a curated shelf, in boutiques, art collections, and in film. Some collect it in all of its crayon-box range of colors and fanciful reincarnations;others post pictures as she travels the world in costume. In the hands of designers she becomes ceramic, wallpaper, candles, textile. This book was born from an encounter in Paris between the authors--both Clonette lovers who discovered her in African markets in the 1980s. It was time to write down her decidedly African story and her meanings in the world.
Bibliothèque d'limage, 2016
96 pages
Printed in France, softcover
(Published in French; an English excerpt is available at www.cemckinley.com
