Weave is a collective that draws attention to the incredible diversity of African textiles, fashion, design, culture, art and craft by organising exhibitions, art projects, residencies, lectures and workshops. They are putting their weight behind Radiant Nights #11: WEAVE, including these four interconnected exhibitions.
Over the centuries, African textiles have served as carriers of stories, traditions and aesthetics, infused with symbolism and meaning. Pagne Africain is a textile exhibition curated by Nyanchama Okemwa that reveals this story and the meanings behind the amazing textile tradition across the continent.
Alex Akuete presents a personal film on the textile traditions of his native country. Alex Akuete is a 27-year-old self-taught multidisciplinary artist with a bachelor's degree in Orthopedagogy. He is a passionate performer and visual artist/designer under the banner Xray Atelier. In 2018, he founded Xray Community, a collective where young people can come together under supervision, share creativity and inspire each other.
In addition, discover a carefully curated selection of fashion books and magazines on African fashion design. You will get to see hidden gems from libraries and archives related to African cultural heritage. Compiled by Sharifa Jamaldin of Textbook, a creative media school and studio whose mission is to inspire changemakers and to redesign, rewrite, re-teach and re-imagine outdated concepts.
Finally, Lies Van Assche presents an expo with photographs by Monday Jr. showing textiles from Nyanchama's collection, as well as unique textile objects from DOEK vzw's collection. Each object has a personal story.