Seminar on Fashion and Identity in Africa

KADK hosted an international seminar on April 11 on the topic of fashion and Identity in Africa. The seminar was part of the current exhibition at KADK entitled 'Africa: Rethinking Architecture and Design'. The panel included:

• Sunny Dolat, Creative Director and Stylist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He founded Kenyan arts collective The Nest Collective, which in 2017 published the book 'Not African Enough' to challenge the existing narrative of African fashion.
• Karen Tranberg Hansen, a sociocultural anthropologist and Professor Emerita at Northwestern University. Her extensive research on clothing and consumption has been published widely, establishing her as an expert in the field. Her publications include ‘Salaula: The World of Secondhand Clothing and Zambia’.
• Craig Native, an art director and designer born in the ghetto neighborhood of Kensington in Cape Town, South Africa, and has since worked for the likes of Adidas, Puma, singers Lenny Kravitz and Erykah Badu, and the late Nelson Mandela.  

The topics discussed included cultural appropriation, the question of wax print as ‘African’, and construction of national and cultural identities through fashion in a globalized world.

The seminar was moderated by KADK Associate Professor, Maria Mackinney-Valentin.