Connecting Afro Futures
Opening | Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design
Join us for the opening of the exhibition Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design at the Kunstgewerbemuseum – Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts. A new generation of African fashion designers are rethinking “African fashion”. An empowered self-image and a home-grown aesthetic is being presented – challenging and side-stepping (neo)colonial thought patterns and beauty norms.
Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design presents contemporary fashion and hair design from Uganda, Senegal and Benin. For the first time, the Museum of Decorative Arts is showing the work of designers and artists exclusively from Africa and the African Diaspora: Lamula Nassuna, Bull Doff, Meschac Gaba, José Hendo, Njola, Adama Paris, Ken Aicha Sy, Tondo Clothing and Diana Ejaita. The designers and artists received carte blanche to transform their visions of African fashion and hair into installations.
For the opening, we are putting together an interactive programme for you: In the exhibition’s Afro Hair District there will be a Live Braiding Session with Awa Kalogo and Mariame Faye from NYA – Braid Bar & Salon. In addition, the fashion installation by designer Adama Paris will be brought to life.
For your tastebuds: The catering will feature both East African and West African specialties, a highlight being Bananas&Breads by Trèsor Pembele promising “Berlin’s Best Banana Bread”.
For your earbuds: DJ PAM BAM (Accra / Berlin) and DJ Mo Lateef (Maputo / Berlin) will be bringing their record cases and selecting Old School, New School and Future beats for your listening pleasure. Expect Afrobeats, Afrohouse and a bit of RnB and Afro Soul in the mix.
The exhibition curators: Claudia Banz (Kunstgewerbemuseum), Cornelia Lund (fluctuating images) and Beatrace Oola (Fashion Africa Now).
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Wir laden zur Eröffnung der Ausstellung Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design im Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin am 23.08.2019 um 19:00h ein. Eine neue Generation Designer*innen afrikanischer Herkunft denken „afrikanische Mode” neu. Ein selbstbewusstes Selbstverständnis und eine Ästhetik aus einer afrikanischen Perspektive wird präsentiert – jenseits der (neo)kolonialen geprägten Denkmustern und Schönheitsnormen.
In der Ausstellung Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design wird zeitgenössische Mode und Hair Design aus Uganda, Senegal und Benin präsentiert. Das Kunstgewerbemuseum zeigt erstmals ausschließlich Designer*innen und Künstler*innen afrikanischer Herkunft: Lamula Nassuna, Bull Doff, Meschac Gaba, José Hendo, Njola, Adama Paris, Ken Aicha Sy, Tondo Clothing, Diana Ejaita
Die Designer*innen und Künstler*innen erhielten Carte blanche, um ihre Visionen von „afrikanischer Mode” und Haar in Installationen zu transformieren.
Die Eröffnung wird von einem interaktiven Programm begleitet: Im Afro Hair District findet eine Live Braiding Performance mit den Braiderinnen Awa Kalogo und Mariame Faye vom NYA Salon statt, zusätzlich wird die Fashion Installation “Shameless Afro Hair” von Designerin Adama Paris performativ in Szene gesetzt.
Das Catering umfasst ostafrikanische sowie westafrikanische Spezialitäten. Als Highlight aus Berlin gibt es Bananas&Breads von Trèsor Pembele.
DJ PAM BAM (Accra / Berlin) und DJ Mo Lateef (Maputo / Berlin) bringen ihre Plattenkoffer mit und legen von Old School, New School bis hin zu Future Beats für euch auf. Euch erwartet Afrobeats, Afrohouse und etwas RnB und Afro Soul im Mix.
Die Kuratorinnen der Ausstellung: Claudia Banz (Kunstgewerbemuseum), Cornelia Lund (fluctuating images) und Beatrace Oola (Fashion Africa Now).
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Supported by the TURN Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation / Gefördert aus dem TURN Fonds der Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Project Partners / Projektpartner: Kunstgewerbemuseum / Museum of Decorative Arts, Berlin; fluctuating images, Berlin; Fashion Africa Now, Hamburg; Goethe-Zentrum Kampala; Ugandan Arts Trust; Kampala; Wakh’Art, Dakar;
#BraidMyHair - Competition to get your hair braided for free!
Get your hair styled by the braiders from NYA Salon! Enter the #BraidMyHair competition now!
“Black hair is politics by another name, art in another medium, and offers spiritual freedom of a lasting kind.”
– NOLIWE ROOKS, Professor of Africana Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies & Director of American Studies at Cornell University*
On the 23rd of August, during the opening of the exhibition Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design at Berlin’s Kunstgewerbemuseum, two people have the chance to get their hair braided for free! Two braiders, Awa Kaloga and Mariama Faye, from NYA Braid Bar & Salon, will be there at the ready and you can select Fulani- or Jumbo Triangle Braids.
NYA stands for “Not Your Average” – alongside their braiding and hair styling offer, they bring together multi-generational communities to discuss, share knowledge, engage and empower each other. “Feel your best – love your hair – be yourself”
ENTER THE COMPETITION!
✓ You have Afro Hair,
✓ You will be in Berlin on the 23rd August
✓ You are happy to be filmed and photographed having your hair braided.
HOW TO ENTER?
To enter the competition post an image of yourself/ your hair on Instagram with a sentence or two about why we should pick you – make sure to include “@fashionafricanow, @nya_salon & #Kunstgewerbemuseum, #BraidMyHair” so we can find your post.
Alternatively, you can email your image and statement to braidmyhair@fashionafricanow.com
THE COMPETITION RUNS UNTIL 16th AUGUST!
Fashion Africa Now and the NYA Team will select the two lucky winners and get in touch with you!
With Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design, the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) Berlin is opening its doors to an exhibition project devoted to the complex and multifaceted world of African fashion design and hairstyling – and, at the same time, is taking a position in the current debate about the approach taken by museums and their collections. Following the opening on the 23rd of August, the exhibition will run from 24th August to 1st December 2019.
*Noliwe Rooks is interdisciplinary scholar and author. She works on the cultural and racial implications of beauty, fashion and adornment. In 1996 she published her first book: Hair Raising: Beauty, Culture and African American Women. The quote is taken from her text: “BLACK HAIR, SELF-CREATION, AND THE MEANING OF FREEDOM” which features in the exhibitions’ Magalog – think fashion magazine and exhibition catalog combined.
Lass deine Haare von den Braiderinnen des NYA Salon stylen! Sei Teil des Hair Wettbewerbs und bewirb dich jetzt!
“Schwarzes Haar ist Politik, ob das nun so gesagt wird oder nicht; es ist Kunst in einem anderen Medium und es bietet spirituelle Freiheit, die nachhaltig ist.”
– NOLIWE ROOKS, Professorin für Africana Studies and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies & Director of American Studies an der Cornell University*
Für die Eröffnung der Ausstellung Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design am 23. August im Kunstgewerbemuseum sind Awa Kaloga und Mariama Faye, zwei Braiderinnen von NYA Braid Bar & Salon, am Start. Zwei Personen haben die Möglichkeit, sich die Haare kostenlos braiden zu lassen! (Fulani- und Jumbo Triangle Braids sind die Styles im Angebot).
NYA steht für “Not Your Average” – neben dem Braiding- und Styling-Angebot, bringen sie generationsübergreifende Communities zusammen, um miteinander zu diskutieren, Wissen zu teilen, sich zu engagieren und zu empowern. “Feel your best – love your hair – be yourself”
NIMM AM WETTBEWERB TEIL!
✓ Du hast Afro Hair,
✓ Du bist am 23. August in Berlin
✓ Du hast kein Problem gefilmt und fotografiert zu werden, während deine Haare gebraidet werden.
WIE TEILNEHMEN?
Um am Wettbewerb teilzunehmen, poste ein Bild von dir / deinem Haar auf Instagram mit ein oder zwei Sätze, warum du gewinnen sollst – vergesse nicht den folgenden Text: “@fashionafricanow, @nya_salon & #Kunstgewerbemuseum, #BraidMyHair” – so finden wir deinen Post.
Alternativ kannst du dein Bild und Statement an braidmyhair@fashionafricanow.com schicken.
WETTBEWERB LÄUFT BIS ZUM 16. AUGUST 2019!
Fashion Africa Now und das NYA Team wählen die zwei Gewinner*innen aus und wir melden uns bei dir!
Mit Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design öffnet das Kunstgewerbemuseum sein Haus einem Ausstellungsprojekt zur komplexen und vielseitigen Welt afrikanischen Modedesigns und Haarstylings – und bezieht damit zugleich Position in der aktuellen Diskussion um die Ausrichtung von Museen und ihren Sammlungen. Nach der Eröffnung am 23. August ist die Ausstellung ab dem 24. August zum zum 1. Dezember 2019 im Museum zu sehen.
*Noliwe Rooks ist eine interdisziplinäre Wissenschaftlerin und Autorin. Sie beschäftigt sich mit den kulturellen und Race-bezogenen Implikationen von Schönheit, Mode und Beschmückung. 1996 veröffentlichte sie ihr erstes Buch: Hair Raising: Beauty, Culture and African American Women. Das Zitat stammt aus ihrem Text “SCHWARZES HAAR, SELBSTSCHÖPFUNG UND DIE BEDEUTUNG VON FREIHEIT” im Magalog – ein Mix aus Modemagazin und Ausstellungskatalog – der Ausstellung.
Header Image:
Photographer: PAPA SHABANI AKA PAPASHOTIT
Creative Producer: SAM AKENA ODONGPINY
Production Assistant NANCY ADOKOBER
Creative Director BEATRACE ANGUT OOLA, Fashion Africa Now
Styling MONISH TONDO, Tondo Clothing
Hair MARITE TSHANI
Makeup MWATSI
Model KANAPATA
Fashion & Jewellery: EGUANA KAMPALA
An international dialogue about fashion and hair in an African context
Connecting Afro Futures. Fashion x Hair x Design is a project that was initiated in Germany with an international approach. The upcoming exhibition at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin will allow artists and designers from Africa and the diaspora to get into a deeper dialogue about fashion and hair.
Fashion constitutes a system of rules of a highly singular kind, and functions as a trendsetter for social change. An innovative generation of designers of African heritage are engaged in rethinking and deconstructing contemporary “African fashion” while establishing new designer hubs throughout the continent. It is however not solely a question of aesthetics; even more important are aspects of culture, identity and political engagement. #GenerationNow is breaking up, shaping and subverting the hegemony of the “Western fashion system.” No longer will African culture only be seen as a source of inspiration for Western fashion designers.
Closely associated with the topic of fashion is the topic of hair. Like fashion, hair—and with it “African” bodies—was a central arena for the exercise of colonial power; hair was disciplined, regimented, and subjected to Western ideals of beauty. Today, traditional African hairstyles—which to some extent vanished into obscurity as a consequence of colonialism—are being disseminated and made available once again. At the same time, they are being used with confidence in forms of play with hair as a mode of the creative expression of identity formation, with hair also increasingly shifting into focus as an artistic material.
The Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin invited a number of creatives from Africa to develop new installation projects for the museum building, in the process initiating a new view of the museum context. The initial phase of the project launched in November 2018 with a one-week workshop, with all of the participants gathering at the Kunstgewerbemuseum to discuss their installation projects as well as a range of project-relevant questions related to fashion, museum and collecting policies, and the discourse of decolonisation.
In a second step, the projects will be presented and discussed in the creative’s respective hometowns: Kampala, Dakar, and Cotonou, and additional local participants will be invited to get involved. In a third phase which will begin in August 2019, the results of these exchanges will be presented back in Berlin at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in the form of installations, artistic interventions, pop-up exhibitions, performances, workshops, and roundtables.
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Connecting Afro Futures
Fashion x Hair x Design
Location: Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin
Opening: 23rd August 2019
Exhibition Open: 24th August to 1st December 2019
Creatives:
- Lamula Anderson, Fashion Designer – London, UK / Kampala,Uganda
- MeschacGaba, Artist – Cotonou, Benin
- Adama Paris, Fashion Designer, Dakar, Senegal
Curators:
- Claudia Banz, Cornelia Lund, Beatrace Angut Oola
More information on the Kunstgewerbemuseum website.
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This a project of the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin of the Federal Cultural Foundation Project partners: Goethe Zentrum Kampala; Ugandan Arts Trust, Kampala; Wakh’Art, Dakar; fluctuating images, Berlin;
Funded by the TURN Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation
Fashion Uganda Now: Photo Series: TogetherNess
TogetherNess – The idea was to connect with Ugandan creatives and highlight the beauty of the country’s creative industry. We believe in: Buy Ugandan, build Uganda!
The photoshoot for TogetherNess was realized as a collaboration in two different locations in Kampala. The idea was to create something together, although we did not know each other well and hadn’t worked together before. The dynamic that came from the teamwork while we were creating was very special and unique. I was on holiday and I met so many beautiful and talented people in Kampala. I wanted to capture the good moments in a project and decided to work collaboratively on a photoshoot with vibrant Ugandan creatives! I am a creative producer, stylist, and curator based in Hamburg, Germany. I love my work and I wanted to create a project in the country where I have my origin. As a kid of the Diaspora I adore my country – Uganda!
During the creation process, getting the team together, talking to collaboration partners and checking out locations a lot of positive energy developed. I believe that togetherness is very important and you can not share it with everybody. The shoot is about believing in yourself, trusting each other, relying on each other and being together. Strangers meet everyday, they connect, interact and separate. Connecting with new people can go one of two ways: be very delighting or painful. It is an experience that allows us to grow and become the human we want to be. It is about us, the people on this planet, the next generation in Africa and the African Diaspora.
Together and well connected we can be the change. The change begins in you! – that is the story!
The Creative Team:
Photographer: Papashotit
Producer: Beatrace Angut Oola & Samuel Akena Odongpiny | APYA Productions
Styling: Beatrace Angut Oola
Make Up & Hair : Shariff Mwangi
Model Agency: Joram Model Management
Models: Ayak Veronica Bior, Immaculate Aliba & Ronald Waiswa,
Fashion Designers:
Gloria Wavamunno | Uganda
Eguana Kampala | Uganda
Merci Me | Uganda/London
Jewellery Designers:
Zaana | Uganda
Kyaligonza | Uganda
Embody Accessoires | Made in Kenya
