Angela Beckwith and Carol Fisher spent the last two decades traversing Africa, documenting African rites and ceremonies for each stage of life, from birth to death. The result is a prodigious double volume book; African Twilight: The Vanishing Rituals and Ceremonies of the African Continent, consisting of unpublished photographs from their archive and text from their travel diaries.The Kenyan launch took place at African Heritage House, a private museum that houses an impressive African art collection gathered from Allan Donovan's travels and the Murumbi's private gallery. For the launch, Donovan recreated the African Heritage Night, as he'd done for all of Angel and Carol's previous books, for the last time.The evening began with a poignant tribute to Ayub Ogada, who started the African Heritage Band, and toured with the African Heritage Festival across the the world, entertaining audiences with original, traditional, African music.For almost two hours, the runway was a magnificent display of garments designed by Allan Donovan and brought to life using rare hand-woven and hand-printed textiles from all over Africa, many of which would be difficult to come by today. Statuesque models draped in vibrant and unique textiles from ancient royal kingdoms of Ashanti, Ethiopia, Bamoun, Ife, Kuba, Mali and Buganda, walked the length of the catwalk, their heads adorned in remarkable feather head dresses or wrapped in elaborate head ties made from kente cloth, and on their necks, beaded Maasai collars and gold accessories. In between the sartorial displays were dancers, acrobats and stilt walkers, and for the Kenya finale, a procession of Maasai warriors and maidens dressed in traditional attire.https://www.kenyabuzz.com/lifestyle/gallery/african-twilight-gala-night-of-the-century-at-the-african-heritage-house-332019/In their speech, Fisher & Beckwith shared wistful recollections of their travels and initially, a grudging acceptance to tour the continent together. According to their estimate, 40% of the cultures documented in African Twilight no longer exist, unable to sustain the currents of technological change, urban migration, and strong Western cultural influences on traditional ways of life.In the audience was renown Nigerian designer and chief, Nike Okundaye, whose art and cultural centre seeks to revive traditional Yoruba cloth - Adire, and to  preserve and teach traditional Yoruba forms of music, dance and art.A special exhibition of a selection of photographs from the book, African Twilight,  is ongoing at the Nairobi Gallery  until March 15, 2019.View pictures from African Twilight: Gala Night of the Century here. .