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Fashion Forward: Africana style

By Staff | Aug 1, 2021

Elie Fontaine Nsassoni, 45-year-old taxi owner and sapeur for 35 years, in Brazzaville, 2017. He wears suit by Rubens, shirt by Avenue, tie by Ron Robinson, tie clip by Baglette, belt by Vera Pelle, glasses by Cazal, watch by Mercedes, pocket watch by Geneva, cigar by Marcanudo, lighter by Playboy, walking cane by Louis Vuitton, bag by Ganni and shoes by JM Weston.

PORTSMOUTH – As a colorful showcase for summer, the Seacoast African American Cultural Center (SAACC), Fashion Forward: Africana Style, running through September 10, 2021. This exciting new exhibition features the world of Black fashion, specifically exploring the connections between African American and African design aesthetics from past to present. The show is opened daily, Monday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Tickets are reduced to $5, school age children admitted free. Reservations can be made through Eventbrite.com. Walk-in guests will be accommodated as space allows.

Authentic African clothing and jewelry are available for sale while supplies last. “This exhibit is a combination of exceptional photography, contemporary clothing fabric, art and quilts”,” it is truly a must see” says President Sandi Clark Kaddy.

The centerpiece of the exhibit features photos of the Sapeurs: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congo, by the award-winning London-based photographer Tariq Zaidi. The sapeurs are a group of ordinary working-class men and women by day, who by evening transform themselves, donning elegantly wild fashions and parading through the streets of the Congo, where they are treated like rock stars. Their unique style combines top designer fashions and international traditional costumes that harken back to the Roaring Twenties and Black Dandies popular during the Harlem Renaissance. Tariq Zaidi stated, “True Sapologie is about more than expensive labels, the true art lies in a sapeur’s ability to put together an elegant look unique to their personality.” Their presence brings joy to their communities, which have been ravaged by years of violence and conflict.

Tariq Zaidi’s passion is capturing the dignity, strength and soul of people within their environment through his photographs. His photography focuses on documenting social issues, inequality, traditions and endangered communities around the world. Zaidi’s work has been shown in over 80 international exhibitions and featured in hundreds of publications, including The Guardian, National Geographic, Washington Post, Newsweek, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Marie Claire, Esquire and Vogue among other international titles, as well as on the newscasts BBC and CNN. He has also been recognized through a number of prestigious awards, including Pictures of the Year International (POYi), the National Press Photographers Association’s (NPPA) Best of Photojournalism awards, UNICEF Photo of the Year, the Marty Forscher Fellowship Fund for Humanistic Photography (Parsons School of Design), the International Photography Awards and the PDN Photo Annual. Vogue named his book, Sapeurs: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congo, one of the “Best Fashion Books of the Year 2020.”

Along with Zaidi’s photos are never before shown pieces from SAACC’s own Gustin Collection of vintage African fashion from 1930s Liberia, including purses, fabrics, tunics, tops, and alligator skin shoes. These extraordinary pieces show influences of Islam and African American immigration to the West African country. Liberia holds a special place in Black history, being founded in 1847 by African Americans who began immigrating there in the 1820s. The Gustin Collection is named for Harold and Mabel Gustin and donated to SAACC by their relative Andrew Slusarski. Originally from Maine, the Gustins resided in Liberia from 1936-1937 where Harold worked as a forester at the Firestone Rubber Plantation. While there, the young couple collected and bought over 50 fabulous clothing and other decorative items from Liberian colleagues and local markets. SAACC previously loaned a large leopard, otter, and sheep skin quilt from the Gustin Collection to the Portsmouth Historical Society for their “”Threads: A Community Quilt for 2020″ exhibit. Objects on display at SAACC will be complemented by some of the Gustin’s personal photos that show what everyday clothing, hairstyles, and fashion looked like in Liberia at that time.

Bringing it back to the present, the exhibit also includes over a dozen pieces of contemporary fashion and fabric art made or owned by several African and African American women who live and work in the Seacoast and East Coast broadly: fashion designers and quilters Monica Ami Gilgah and Kathleen Otoo, and Seacoast residents Akua Sika Daisy Houdegbe and Dzifa Patterson. This is exhibit will also include fashion from the private collection belonging to Peggy and Nelson Cantave.

Monica Ami Gligah is a fashion designer born and raised in Ghana (West Africa). While growing up, Monica watched her mother sew their family’s clothes, aesthetically to the admiration of all. It wasn’t too long before Monica developed a flare for dressmaking as well. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the Social Advance Institute in Ghana to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Upon completion, she came into contact with Elizabeth Amoakohene of Liz Designs and began working under her tutelage, improving her free hand cutting and patterning skills. Monica was able to branch off just after three years to establish her own fashion business. She started sewing from her living room and later opened a shop with several of her own apprentices. Monica became an expert in making wedding gowns and suits for both women and men. She recently relocated to Virginia in the US to join family and has been working primarily in healthcare. Still, she is frequently contacted by her clients both here and abroad to make outfits for them. Monica is currently pursuing fashion accreditations in US to enable her to take her passion to new heights.

Kathleen Otoo moved from Ghana the US in 2012 with her husband and young child. Once her daughter entered kindergarten, she decided to pursue a hobby to help relieve the boredom and loneliness she was experiencing in her new country. She began experimenting with bead making, but eventually found her passion for working with fabrics. Inspired by the quilts of Gloria Gray, she began her quilting journey. As Kathleen’s skills improved, she began to produce handbags and many other things, but quilting emerged as her great passion. On return visits to Ghana, she discovered discarded fabrics that were causing harm to the local environment. She realized she could help alleviate some the environmental threat by collecting the scraps of fabric and incorporating them into her artwork. During the COVID19 lockdowns she began to explore new ways to express herself through her art. Kathleen began to capture portraits and nature scenes with these fabric scraps, just as a painting tells a story, taking her skills to yet another dimension. She often exhibits under her Ghanaian name Egyima. Preview her works on Instagram at @kathleeno2.

Akua Sika Daisy Houdegbe has family roots in Bénin (West Africa) and has had opportunities to travel there to visit. While doing so, she fell in love with the traditional fashion of the region. She spent time in the markets in Cotonou with family and friends who helped her understand the cultural richness expressed in these designs and the colors of the fabric, and that the symbols in the cloth are a form of storytelling. While there, she also had clothing made for her by the family seamstress, which she’s enjoyed wearing. When she returned to the US, she brought different outfits made from Ankara cloths, several of which she’s sharing for the SAACC exhibition. Among these special ceremonial dresses is one that was created and worn to celebrate her father’s chiefship which also has his image printed on it, a widespread design aesthetic in West African countries.

Dzifa Patterson was born in Ghana (West Africa) and moved with her family to London before moving to New Hampshire, where she now works as an educator. She has learned to incorporate her traditional dress from her early years in Ghana into her way of dressing today. In Ghana, many families, as well as her own, patronized dressmakers and tailors to create their clothing. Throughout her travels, Dzifa often found people curious about her culture. She discovered that wearing a traditional piece, such as a Kente stole with ‘Western’ wear, not only elevated the outfit, but also acted as a good icebreaker and a tacit, but recognizable representation of Ghana to those curious about the country. When Dzifa’s family moved to London, they found dressmakers within the Ghanaian community there to make their traditional attire for special occasions such as weddings and engagements. Examples of these are also featured in the SAACC exhibit.

Founded in 2000, SAACC’s mission is to celebrate the lives and achievements of Black people with emphasis on the unique story of African Americans in the Seacoast, and to infuse all people, particularly young people, with knowledge of and appreciation for shared history and culture. SAACC is grateful for the generous support for this exhibit from: Green Acre Bahai’ Center of Learning in Eliot, Maine; Najee Browns “Sol Series; Cup of Joe’s coffee shop; Cohen Bookkeeping and Tax Service; South Street and Vine; Courtney Daniels Brand and 3S Artspace .

The Seacoast African American Cultural Center is located inside the Portsmouth Historical Society at 10 Middle Street in Portsmouth, NH. For more information please call 603-430-6027 or email saacc44@aol.com. Don’t miss this exhibit.

SAACC is always seeking new volunteers and special friends to help advance its mission. Visit www.saacc-nh.org for more information.

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