https://hair-matters.org Hair Matters Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:24:52 +0000 https://hair-matters.org en https://hair-matters.org/Home Sat, 05 Jun 2021 11:34:29 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Home <img width="1365" height="2048" width_o="1365" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a262b2249a3f58b4250666f62c5aa8d59499c433767fd51a581e7c399c31aa98/Agbodjelou-Untitled.jpg" data-mid="119761735" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a262b2249a3f58b4250666f62c5aa8d59499c433767fd51a581e7c399c31aa98/Agbodjelou-Untitled.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="2000" width_o="2000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b24f510ddea0647bdb5c1d6276e0fc86781d8f9e871c5ac17ce90980c5eb0b1/Braithwaite-Untitled.jpg" data-mid="119762532" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b24f510ddea0647bdb5c1d6276e0fc86781d8f9e871c5ac17ce90980c5eb0b1/Braithwaite-Untitled.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1772" width_o="1772" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/28564a173472bfb67300173e8ee9a8a44acf24941e94523d5e019bb176b47621/Mulanga-Her-looks.jpg" data-mid="119762691" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/28564a173472bfb67300173e8ee9a8a44acf24941e94523d5e019bb176b47621/Mulanga-Her-looks.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1481" width_o="2000" height_o="1481" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2efc10d986d2a95b18e963283be238044eb90b3ae7e42f52e6c48c0622c744c3/Ndlovu-She-has.jpg" data-mid="119762693" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2efc10d986d2a95b18e963283be238044eb90b3ae7e42f52e6c48c0622c744c3/Ndlovu-She-has.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1580" width_o="2000" height_o="1580" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1f835d730a99dbdf8c4b11784063b2d9e1c05eaf1fc4a6546f5b4c668055d387/Noah-Le-kouga.jpg" data-mid="119762694" border="0" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9cf88766aef9fd9505c4d59c10441499b48057f930f3e3999869c3cde8b6dfb6/Poswa-Magodi.jpg" data-mid="119762712" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9cf88766aef9fd9505c4d59c10441499b48057f930f3e3999869c3cde8b6dfb6/Poswa-Magodi.jpg" /> <img width="1404" height="2000" width_o="1404" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b95b1252c29f24a7d6384a0e93973647e9e815ddb6f6569cae94e475fbe0e0ca/Rose-Span-II.jpg" data-mid="119762729" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b95b1252c29f24a7d6384a0e93973647e9e815ddb6f6569cae94e475fbe0e0ca/Rose-Span-II.jpg" /> <img width="1744" height="2000" width_o="1744" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/973e82cccea885c19c2572f27d21b56af5a9251d1a02b256bb69fdc2856d3738/Steyn-A-tall.jpg" data-mid="119762764" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/973e82cccea885c19c2572f27d21b56af5a9251d1a02b256bb69fdc2856d3738/Steyn-A-tall.jpg" /> <img width="1354" height="1502" width_o="1354" height_o="1502" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd0916e55b7930c1075dd236f7d2d56305b4beda174287e15a4646d8145450de/Su-Split-stitch.jpg" data-mid="119762790" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd0916e55b7930c1075dd236f7d2d56305b4beda174287e15a4646d8145450de/Su-Split-stitch.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1929" width_o="2000" height_o="1929" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f104d42b40ace19bea1b542e0ee7df23ac13245170fdb6b8d807488880d5d638/Thomas-Come-out.jpg" data-mid="119762835" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f104d42b40ace19bea1b542e0ee7df23ac13245170fdb6b8d807488880d5d638/Thomas-Come-out.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="2000" width_o="1500" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c74618a5fdb07b455ab923054b4e1b6c4fc9a3aa043f21477efa21469681928/Weeghel-For-Sarah.jpg" data-mid="119762907" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c74618a5fdb07b455ab923054b4e1b6c4fc9a3aa043f21477efa21469681928/Weeghel-For-Sarah.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1009" width_o="1500" height_o="1009" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e76a9c89392518d9f340eeb14f8d6066fb7c47efae32068f91ddcaf3c9536304/Williams-Thabong.jpg" data-mid="119762908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e76a9c89392518d9f340eeb14f8d6066fb7c47efae32068f91ddcaf3c9536304/Williams-Thabong.jpg" /> Hair Matters is a collection of artworks and photographic works where hair is a prominent feature, operates as the subject-matter, is used as an artistic medium, or is represented. Georgina Jaffee initiated the collection, and as she is South African-based, artworks by African artists dominate this collection. However, as hair is a prominent and often politicised signifier of identity across cultures, it contains works by artists based in the United Kingdom, the United States, Holland, Chile and China. The artworks were selected based on their relevance to the collection, its focus and in relation to evolving conversations the works prompted. Mary Corrigall points to some of the connections between the works in her essay.&nbsp;This resulted in an eclectic collection that was driven by the content of the art.&nbsp;As such while works by well-known artists – from Hank Willis Thomas, Zanele Muholi, David Goldblatt, Athi-Patra Ruga among others – feature, so too are those by established mid-career artists, well-known photographers and young artists. As with all art collections, Hair Matters, has evolved over time, but as the works were largely acquired directly from galleries, the subject-matter was guided by the concerns artists are pursuing presently. In this way the collection offers a snapshot – as is only possible with 54 artworks – of the ways artists are currently representing hair in their art or issues relating to it. Naturally, not all of the artist’s whose works are in this collection set out to make art about hair&nbsp; per se – our interest in hair is simply a lens through which we have chosen to engage with their works at this time. A number of series of archival photographic works by the likes of James Barnor (Ghana/UK), Kwame Braithwaite (US) and J.D. Okhai Ojeikere (Nigeria) are also included, as research suggested they were essential to a discourse on hair and how contemporary artists might be engaging with it. Some artists have directly referenced images by some of these photographers or were inspired by their work. As a result this collection of archival imagery, which also includes anonymously produced images for the well-known Drum magazine, offer somewhat of an historical context to this collection. Works by this group of photographers also present a counternarrative to some of the dominant ones relating to identity and the role of hair in shaping it.&nbsp;We have shared some links to&nbsp; texts relating to the ways in which hair has featured in Greek mythology to the manner it operated as a leitmotif in Victorian literature to articles written in the present day about the persistent politics surrounding hair in a racialised society. As the collection grew, new acquisitions were determined by their relationship to the artworks it contained and also the degree by which they exposed different or more nuanced explorations of the social or political conditions tied to hair or, in some instatnces, a reprieve from the ‘weight’ of these readings. As such the significance of each artwork isn’t only determined independently but is also relational. Common threads quickly emerged. However, we would like to leave it up to you the viewer, visitor to this site to craft your own connections. We invite you to explore the myriad of conversations all these talented artists have directly or indirectly relayed through their expression.&nbsp;We entreat you to share your own experiences, observations on this topic or the impact of some of the works in the collection. https://hair-matters.org/Leonce-Raphael-Agbodjelou-Untitled Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:24:52 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Leonce-Raphael-Agbodjelou-Untitled <img width="1365" height="2048" width_o="1365" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a262b2249a3f58b4250666f62c5aa8d59499c433767fd51a581e7c399c31aa98/Agbodjelou-Untitled.jpg" data-mid="119757237" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a262b2249a3f58b4250666f62c5aa8d59499c433767fd51a581e7c399c31aa98/Agbodjelou-Untitled.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou Nigeria Untitled (Egungun series), 2011C-print 85x57cm Edition of 8 Image courtesy Jack Bell Gallery, United Kingdom Agbodjelou is known for his documentation of people participating in Egungun: a religious festival among the Yoruba of Nigeria whose main aim is to appease dead spirits. “For me, the Egungun use public performance to tap into a narrative of localised Yoruba memories, personalised histories and ritual. They play a fundamental role in upholding the ethical values of the community… I think what interested me the most about these performances were the dynamic tensions that occur between this world and the next. My individual portraits of Egungun try to confront this “betwixt and between” quality, as ancestral visitors are temporarily made manifest to aid and guide the lineages to which they belong.” (Another Magazine)&nbsp; https://hair-matters.org/Ifeoma-U-Anyaeji-A-no-m-eba-ma-na-anoho-mu-eba-I-am-here-but-I-am-not Sun, 29 Aug 2021 09:23:26 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Ifeoma-U-Anyaeji-A-no-m-eba-ma-na-anoho-mu-eba-I-am-here-but-I-am-not <img width="419" height="632" width_o="419" height_o="632" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8bab834bbca025ec2ec537c518cdba15015275682295bc732d474c6acc38a0a5/Anyaeji-A-no-meba.jpg" data-mid="119757284" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/419/i/8bab834bbca025ec2ec537c518cdba15015275682295bc732d474c6acc38a0a5/Anyaeji-A-no-meba.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ Ifeoma U Anyaeji b. 1981, Nigeria A no m'eba, ma na anoho mu eba (I am here, but I am not here - presence, absence), 2016 Found materials, mixed131x216x84cm Text and image courtesy Primo Marella Gallery, Italy Ifeoma Anyaeji is “interested in the ecological concept of discarded material reused alongside a style of art she calls Plasto-art or Neo-traditionalism. This is an ‘eco-aesthetic’ process of remaking where she employs crafting skills used in traditional Nigerian hair plaiting with basketry and fabric weaving. This is executed in her primary medium – used nonbiodegradable plastic bags and bottles. Using this technique, Ifeoma creates conceptual and organic sculptures and installations that reference domestic spaces, furniture, and the body. In spontaneously engaging the “old”, Anyaeji questions the implications of modernity’s consumptive systems of mass accumulation and waste generation, cultural assimilation and attitudes to value, the expiration date syndrome.&nbsp; Colonial orientations that define beauty, authenticity and newness all come into play through her medium and process of art making.” https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Accra-Studio-Ever-Young Sun, 12 Sep 2021 15:06:48 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Accra-Studio-Ever-Young <img width="797" height="800" width_o="797" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dbf98588282074bfca9ea92dba32808ec2e0ed13eee7e98a874488cbcbc39b88/Barnor-Accra.jpg" data-mid="119757316" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/797/i/dbf98588282074bfca9ea92dba32808ec2e0ed13eee7e98a874488cbcbc39b88/Barnor-Accra.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ James Barnor b. 1929, Ghana Accra, Studio Ever Young, 1954 Archival print 24x30cm Edition of 5 Image courtesy Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, France This Ghanian-born, London based photographer is known for his portraits of women. He established his first photographic studio in Accra, named Studio Ever Young. This is where this image was taken. The cloud backdrop appears in many images taken during this time. While many of the images in circulation now, which date back to the fifties show Ghanian women with 50s hairstyles, this one remarkably shows the subject from behind with the focus on her detailed hairdo, which does not mimic western 50s styles, but rather evokes traditional ones. “James’ career covers a remarkable period in history, bridging continents and photographic genres to create a fascinating compendium of transatlantic visual narratives marked by his passionate interest in people and cultures. Through the medium of portraiture, his photographs brilliantly document societies in transition: Ghana moving towards its independence in the 1950s and London becoming a cosmopolitan, multicultural metropolis in the 1960s,” curator Renée Mussai, Autograph gallery, London, June 2020. https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Evelyn-Abbew-Ever-Young-Studio-Accra Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:39:01 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Evelyn-Abbew-Ever-Young-Studio-Accra <img width="796" height="800" width_o="796" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9b8872a4396f7d0b80fd846ec8292cc69aaeffc5f02bcf91e1d9b9c5fd8f62d/Barnor-Evelyn.jpg" data-mid="119757360" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/796/i/e9b8872a4396f7d0b80fd846ec8292cc69aaeffc5f02bcf91e1d9b9c5fd8f62d/Barnor-Evelyn.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ James Barnor b. 1929, Ghana Evelyn Abbew, Ever Young Studio. Accra, c. 1950s Archival print 24x30cm Edition of 5 Image courtesy Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, France This archival image is an example of how Ghanian women embraced or replicated popular 50s hairstyles, as set via western cultural norms.&nbsp; The ‘cloud’ backdrop evokes not only the studio setting but this drive towards a manufactured ideal. https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-A-Woman-posing-on-James-Barnor-s-car-Accra Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:42:06 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-A-Woman-posing-on-James-Barnor-s-car-Accra <img width="814" height="800" width_o="814" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/05c25806f12eae174e85435efdf2fc2f4ed13dbd6085e647d62dd71a4d294b2a/Barnor-A-woman.jpg" data-mid="119757369" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/814/i/05c25806f12eae174e85435efdf2fc2f4ed13dbd6085e647d62dd71a4d294b2a/Barnor-A-woman.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ James Barnor b. 1929, Ghana A Woman posing on James Barnor's car, Accra, c. 1970s Cibachrome print 20x20cm Edition of 5 Image courtesy Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, France Barnor returned to his native country, after moving to the United Kingdom, and turned his attention to photographing people on the streets – rather than in studios. It appears from this image that by the 1970s Ghanian women were keen to sport natural hairdos. This could be seen as an influence of post-independence, but also ties in with black consciousness movements an expressions of it via hair in the US. Certainly, this image bears some resemblance to that Braithwaite took in the same era.&nbsp; In both images the women sit on the vehicles, a pose and setting which seems to communicate a sense of freedom, not only from the strictures of colonial rule, or white supremacism but greater freedom thought to be afforded to women, who could perceivably now be the ‘drivers’ of their own destinies. https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Eva Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:45:01 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/James-Barnor-Eva <img width="1772" height="1772" width_o="1772" height_o="1772" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/937a3fa9ffc9efaef3543f0afa531fc473841af62b4aa01e1d6b23ccb5df53f0/Barnor-Eva.jpg" data-mid="119757491" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/937a3fa9ffc9efaef3543f0afa531fc473841af62b4aa01e1d6b23ccb5df53f0/Barnor-Eva.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ James Barnor b. 1929, Ghana Eva, c. 1960s Archival print 30x40cm Edition of 10 Image courtesy Autograph gallery, United Kingdom This is one of the most recognisable images by Barnor. It is exemplative of the times – the 60s in London. Barnor had settled in that country and while he continued to take images in a studio setting, he also frequently captured black women in London. In this way he documented the history black people in that city, country, which perhaps went overlooked at that time.&nbsp; As with the fifties hairdos some of his female subjects sported in Ghana, Accra, many of his black subjects in London in the sixties also wore hairpieces, wigs and extensions in order to conform to the fashionable sixties hairstyles of that era. https://hair-matters.org/Patrick-Bongoy-Bubbled-Up Sun, 12 Sep 2021 14:23:48 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Patrick-Bongoy-Bubbled-Up <img width="2018" height="1683" width_o="2018" height_o="1683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0d34a53e5abdc0bddeb46faef2661dba97838059bcf7ce65009a792f6310fb1c/Bongoy-Bubble-up.jpg" data-mid="119757564" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0d34a53e5abdc0bddeb46faef2661dba97838059bcf7ce65009a792f6310fb1c/Bongoy-Bubble-up.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ Patrick Bongoy b. 1980, Democratic Republic of Congo Bubbled Up, 2020 Mixed media 120x150cm Image courtesy the artist Patrick Bongoy is known for working with disused rubber. This work is an example of how he is expanding what has largely been a very sculptural use of the material – fashioned around mannequins – into a 2d canvas. Bongoy has worked in this way so as to make an absent body, present. In this work, this presence of a body is summoned through the hair of the subject. The hard yet malleable material he uses to represent the human body is in reference to the hard and difficult conditions in his native country, which has brutalised people. The black rubber also references a dark skin colour. In this work the rubber evokes ‘dreads’ or hair. https://hair-matters.org/Patrick-Bongoy-Kimbongila Sun, 12 Sep 2021 14:35:30 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Patrick-Bongoy-Kimbongila <img width="576" height="950" width_o="576" height_o="950" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77b8e8a53fdc6c8cd6cb5674a112b199ab18b26cfce2ccec4a91e9d3b178994e/Bongoy-Kimbongila.jpg" data-mid="119757576" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/576/i/77b8e8a53fdc6c8cd6cb5674a112b199ab18b26cfce2ccec4a91e9d3b178994e/Bongoy-Kimbongila.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ Patrick Bongoy b. 1980, Democratic Republic of Congo Kimbongila, 2019 Mannequin, recycled rubber 38x80x68cm Image courtesy the artist Kimbongila “echoes how the value of human life has been lost and has become a commodity. The sculpture alludes to a traditional ritual of gathering around the fire, dancing, or mourning to the rhythm of a drum,” says Bongoy. https://hair-matters.org/Kwame-Brathwaite-Untitled-Pat-on-Car-1968 Sun, 12 Sep 2021 13:28:25 +0000 Hair Matters https://hair-matters.org/Kwame-Brathwaite-Untitled-Pat-on-Car-1968 <img width="2000" height="2000" width_o="2000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b24f510ddea0647bdb5c1d6276e0fc86781d8f9e871c5ac17ce90980c5eb0b1/Braithwaite-Untitled.jpg" data-mid="119757651" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b24f510ddea0647bdb5c1d6276e0fc86781d8f9e871c5ac17ce90980c5eb0b1/Braithwaite-Untitled.jpg" /> ︎ Back to collection Next work&nbsp;︎ Kwame Brathwaite b. 1938, United States Untitled (Pat on Car), 1968 Archival pigment print 38.1x38.1cm (image) Edition of 10 Text and image courtesy Philip Martin gallery, United States This image is part of Brathwaite’s ‘Black is Beautiful’ period/series. Inspired in part by the writings of Marcus Garvey, Kwame Brathwaite, his older brother, Elombe Brath, and the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS), which he co-founded, popularised this phrase in the late 50s and early 60s. AJASS staged a fashion show titled “Naturally '62: The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride and Standards.” Brathwaite used his photographs to produce positive images of African-Americans. He believed that “artistic and political vision can affect change in popular culture — and that popular culture can affect change on culture at large.”