Collectors Mamadou-Abou and Catherine Sarr Build Transcontinental Collection from Soviet Camera Origins

Chicago-based collectors Mamadou-Abou and Catherine Sarr have assembled the Sarr Collection, spanning West Africa, France, and the United States. Their approach emphasizes emerging artists and international dialogue, guided by Mamadou-Abou's investment background and Catherine's jewelry design expertise. The collection began with Mamadou-Abou's father's 1960s Zenith-E Russian camera, which sparked an interest in contemporary African photography by artists like Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, and Mama Casset. They advise new collectors to focus on works they cannot stop looking at and to avoid impulse purchases. Through the SARR Prize, they support three student artists from Les Beaux-Arts de Paris with cash gifts and a month-long residency at Villa Albertine in Chicago. Notable works in their collection include Amanda Williams's "Paris is Englewood and Englewood is Paris," Kiah Celeste's "Forest Cloud," and Babajide Olatunji's "Tribal Marks Series III." The collectors value understanding artists' thinking and maintaining long-term commitments, with their geographic ties reflected in pieces from Senegal, France, and Chicago.