Curated by artist Nzuji De Magalhães, the Hairtage Continuum exhibition and speaker series gathers together artists who approach Black hair as a locus of tension and affirmation. A generation on from Hairtage: Tangled, Twisted, and Black, which CCAG hosted online during the Covid-19 pandemic, Hairtage Continuum presents the work of Cedric Adams, Sharon Barnes, April Bey, janet e. dandridge, Regina Herod, Nzuji de Magalhães, and Kimberly Morris, live and in-person! All of the participating artists will speak about their work as part of the Hairtage Continuum Speaker Series.
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Natural black hair reveals the root, the source of the African within, and the anti-western “primitive” being. Due to its uncivil and pure nature, the untamed rebellion of natural black hair is anthropologically viewed as exotic and animalistic. Its foreign stature is seen as a threat, a criminal, a terrorist, a lure to the body and soul of its “civilized” colonial victims.
Enslaving the leader who wears the bush crown is the only way to tame the African beast.
Westernized black hair is an eradication of cultural identity and pride. Something that is normal and naturally conceived is viewed as an error and an embarrassment. Worse, its concealment is accepted as natural by its own grower.
Though centuries have passed, the need to be accepted by the colonial white master is still felt by the colonized black (person). This is understandable. They were ripped away from their natural black mothers, abducted and terrorized by adopted parents who wanted them only for their labor. What then can a black child do if not try to please this foreign parent?
Conformity, obedience, and submissiveness were the only ways to achieve small acceptance and the illusion of freedom.
Natural black hair, the direct link that bonds the soul to its root, must be tamed so that the wearer can be a sheep to the white Western god; can be educated in the rules created by the white Western leader, regardless of his rank; can be a second-class example of an idealized sophisticated being; can be a commercialized product, a comedian, a criminal, an entertainment for the world to see.
Nzuji De Magãlhaes
PRESS for HAIRTAGE: TANGLED TWISTED & BLACK, Spring 2021
Lina Lecaro: LA Weekly, “Hairtage Explores The Complex Roots of Black Culture”
Richard Chang: Voice of OC, “Hairtage Exhibit at Cypress College Art Gallery Allows Black Artists to Speak Their Truths”