Dineo Mauku

VIRTUAL TOUR

ARTIST CATALOGUE

Braided History

Braiding is the process of interlacing three or more portions of hair strands to form a complex pattern or simple plait. Braids are used as a protective hairstyle in most African societies to keep hair tucked in for less manipulation of daily styling and hidden from harsh weather conditions. In the early 15th century hair functioned as a carrier of messages in most West African societies, a complex language system within cultures, with elaborate hairstyles indicating marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, wealth and ranking within community, moreover geographical origins. 

Enslaved Africans used the art of cornrows, as a tool of survival and resistance drawing maps with their hair and communicating a way to escape. Today that history has been concealed by the pressure of Eurocentric beauty standards and the art of braids is not appreciated, just like the braiding process the history is hidden, but to its own people. Over the years there has been stereotypes around natural hair that have affected the relationship between a black girl and their hair. If a black women is able to speak on social media in a discrimative manner (“You can’t join my table with your Afro”) so confidently viewing natural Black hair to be not classy enough to associated with her “it girl” appearance that includes wearing Brazilian hair and salons renaming cornrows as “wiglines” stripping off their history to fit trends then surely we haven’t been liberated from Eurocentric ideas of beauty. 

My work speaks of the history around Black hair and celebrates the culture of braiding through sculptural pieces of different hairstyles, prints made from braids and rice as a seed that was hidden in cornrows for survival during the colonial era and now being used in hair care practices and outfit that portrays a classy Black girl using the reference of the little black dress by Coco Chanel, heels and a hand bag as today’s ideal “it girl”. This body of work stands for Black-womanhood identity, representation and liberation of Black hair from Eurocentrism.