As the V&A’s landmark show opens at Brooklyn Museum, Nataal explores its evolution for US audiences
Africa Fashion at London’s V&A Museum (June 22-April 23) was hailed as the most important survey of fashion from the African continent to date. Nataal was proud to work closely with its curator, Dr. Christine Checinska, to develop the film ‘Who Dey Shake’ by Lakin Ogunbanwo, which featured as part of the exhibition’s invigorating exploration of Africa’s radical style and culture from the vanguard names of the 1950s and 60s through to today’s new generation of multi-hyphenate creators. And now, as the show opens at Brooklyn Museum (where Nataal is a media partner and is exhibited in the publications section), it has blossomed once more in the caring hands of Ernestine White-Mifetu, Sills Foundation Curator of African Art, and Annissa Malvoisin, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Arts of Africa at the Bard Graduate Center. Together they are responsible for reimaging the museum’s African galleries with important exhibitions such as this.
“When we first engaged with the show at the V&A, we were inspired by the fact it was such a monumental survey on African fashion and culture as a whole. Something like this has never been shown in the US so we wanted to build upon that by localising it in New York,” explains Malvoisin. “We’ve incorporating a lot of Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Africa collection, especially our rich textiles. We’ve expanded on the existing themes to make sure the community here is connected to the exhibition. And we’ve focussed on acquisitions that have allowed us to work with local designers, photographers and visual artists.”
Of their approach, White-Mifetu adds: “Christine told us that for her, it was crucial that the designers had their own voice to choose how they were represented. This is very much in line with our ethos. It’s about working collaboratively with creatives and presenting the lived realities of the communities on this side of the world who have a foot on the continent, whether they were born there or engage with the materiality and processes.”
The show encompasses over 180 works situating the looks and objects from the original show, which were predominantly drawn from the continent, in amongst pieces from voices in the US spanning fashion, music, literature, photography and visual art. For example, some archival commemorative cloths sit alongside a dress by New York-based Nigerian designer Lola Faturoti that marks President Obama’s inauguration. Elsewhere a Ndebele marriage blanket, traditionally beaded by a bride over the lifetime of her marriage, is in conversation a film by contemporary Ghanaian artist Godfried Donkor, which considers the significance of textiles for his mother, for whom as a trader they were a way to assert agency and power.
Hassan Hajjaj, Draganov, 2021
Malvoisin explains that music plays an important role in layering their curation with the addition of three soundtracked listening zones. “At the beginning we’re focussing on the independence era, so we hear Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba. There’s juju and high life. Then you move into the end of the 20th century with Algerian and Moroccan rai music. And you end up in the now of Global Africa with Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage, with amapiano and afro pop. All of this really brings you into the experience at different entry points.”
In terms of new film and photography, existing artists such as Daniel Obasi, Sarah Waiswa and Stephen Tayo are joined by Hassan Hajjaj with his much-hailed ‘My Rock Stars’ series and Victoire Douniama’s portraits of female sapeurs, plus works by Trevor Stuurman, Omar Victor Diop and Athi-Patra Ruga. These hang alongside iconic images from J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Marilyn Nance, Kwame Brathwaite and Sanlé Sory, which illustrate how today’s visual artists stand on the shoulders of their predecessors by continuing their celebration of graceful self-styling as an assertion of joy and identity.
“Such a monumental survey on African fashion and culture has never been shown in the US before so we wanted to build upon that by localising it in New York”
And of course there are the sumptuous fashions with all of the loved looks from the V&A by Imane Ayissi, Lisa Folawiyo, Lagos Space Programme, Tongoro, Maison ARTC, IAMISIGO and many more, joined by New York designers including Christopher John Rogers, Eilaf, Brother Vellies and Studio One Eighty Nine. This extension emphasises the cross-cultural pollination of ideas that is constantly going on between creatives in this influential sphere.
Case in point is young designer and illustrator Papa Oppong, who was raised in Accra and came to the New York to attain his MFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology. He recently won a Fashion Trust Award for his imaginatively structured and highly embellished silhouettes. “I started my brand because I wanted to take all of the oral stories my mother, grandmother and aunts would tell me about Ghana and turn them into fashion stories that reflect my life in NYC, too. Aesthetically, every story is an opportunity to try something new,” Oppong explains.
Photo by Lakin Ogunbanwo, image courtesy of Nataal
In the show are two looks from his graduate collection, entitled ‘Yopoo’, inspired by the 1990s Ghanaian music star Mzbel. “She’s the Beyoncé of that era. Her song ‘Yoppo’ is like an exclamation, a way to say, ‘You’re looking good’.” The fact that his work is now on view next to legendary names such as Kofi Ansah, Chris Seydou and Shade Thomas-Fahm is, for Oppong, a true turning point. “This show is an invaluable resource for students, and is going to inform and educate the public about how much this scene has evolved. And people will also begin to trace the influence African fashion has had on international brands. Being able to see those connections is important and I’m excited to be part of it.”
Beyond the main show, Brooklyn Museum has partnered with Lagos concept store Alára for its first US pop up. The immersive retail experience includes pieces by a number of exhibited designers well as a wider selection of over 100 brands, artists and makers expertly selected by Alára founder Reni Folawiyo. And crucially, there is an extensive community outreach programme with partner organisations across the NYC boroughs including Custom Collaborative, which empowers at risk women through a sewing education programme, and Brooklyn Public Library where visitors can discover African writers both new and beloved.
Self-portrait, Gouled Ahmed, Addis Foam, Ethiopia, 2017
Trevor Stuurman, Tongoro Beauty 3, 2022
Victoire Douniama, La Sape du Congo, 2018
This new iteration of Africa Fashion is no doubt a major achievement and one that the curators hope will build its own legacy. “This is just the beginning,” asserts White-Mifetu. “It’s an expansive survey that tries to represent an entire continent. That then lays the groundwork for more specialised shows on some of the aspects we’ve focussed on here, or retrospectives on a specific designer. This is the stepping stone that builds on the work these talented creators have been doing for years.”
Africa Fashion is on view until 22 October 2023 at Brooklyn Museum.