Emma Dabiri Instagram – Hair is not just hair. There’s so much more to it than that.
The hairstyles captured in this video don’t just tell us about the wearer’s personal preferences, or what they find beautiful. They can also speak to their personal histories, their relationship status, their values and morals.
Join @emmadabiri as she discusses the cultural significance of hair via the works of J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, and the oft-forgotten part that pin-tail combs play in styling them.
You can see these works in The Cult of Beauty, our 5-star exhibition which is now in its final weeks. Find out more and plan your visit at Wellcome.info/cult-of-beauty
[Alt text: Irish-Nigerian author Emma Dabiri is sitting on a sofa in Wellcome Collection’s Reading Room, in front of a red-carpeted staircase. She has a make-up case with her, and pulls out a pintail comb. As she goes on to talk about J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere’s work, B-roll imagery of his photographs appear on screen. Each of the black and white photographs shows the back of the head of a Black woman, her hair either threaded or braided into magnificent sculptural shapes.
The first photo, Mkpuk Eba, shows a younger woman, her hair bound into 7 pompoms that stand up evenly around her head.
The next photo, and perhaps the most complex hairstyle is subtitled Abebe. Here, from a centre parting down the back of the head the hair is braided in flat cornrows following the shape of the skull, up over the ears. Thicker braids, probably hair extensions, are coiled on the crown of the head and tumble down making a waterfall of thick black hair.
In the last photo, Onile Gogoro Or Akaba, the hair is separated and coiled into about twelve uprights like dowels of wood. These are twisted into a circle at the top, making a crown of hair, standing proudly on the head of its owner.
Many of these styles became known by their nicknames, which emerged from either the geographic area they came from, or from the natural and manmade forms they imitated including pineapples, crabs, suspension bridges or tower blocks.] | Posted on 29/Mar/2024 16:26:10
