Hannah Traore Gallery celebrated the opening of Don’t Touch My Hair, a group exhibition curated by Hannah Traore exploring the personal and cultural significance of hair, inspired by Traore’s 2022 Artsy collection.
Guests celebrated the opening while sipping on wine by IBest Wines, the premiere wine brand expertly blending wine, art and culture and changing the way the wine industry looks, feels, talks and tastes. Notable guests included Andy Jackson, Bernard James Camila Falquez, Cynthia Edorh, Desmond Jamon, Diallo Simon-Ponte, Jasmine Wahi, Jon Gray, Kevin Claiborne and Quiana Parks.
The artists in the exhibition (Andy Jackson, Anya Paintsil, Baseera Khan, Brianna Lace, Camila Falquez, Felandus Thames, Hiba Schahbaz, Hong Chun Zhang, Jayoung Yoon, Jazmine Hayes, J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Kezia Harrell, Laetitia Adam-Rabel, Marcel Marien, Murjoni Merriweather, Ma Yanhong, Sheena Liam and Wangechi Mutu) take on the subject of hair in unique and deeply intimate ways, coinciding with Traore’s own sentiments on the theme. Traore writes:
“As a gallerist and curator, I see everything through the lens of art. Since my hair loss and subsequent hypothyroid diagnosis, I have found myself seeing everything through the lens of hair. This exhibition is a very personal exploration of the subject that has occupied my thoughts for the past five years: Whether body hair, head hair, hair tools, objects made with hair, inspired by hair or depicting interesting representations of hair, this show celebrates hair as a symbol of beauty, power and identity.
As an art history student, I was lucky to have Professor Penny Jolly, a specialist in hair in Renaissance art, train my eye to notice the beautiful details of pubic and armpit hair in Renaissance painting and sculpture. Reviewing this work instilled the fact that hair has always held outsized significance for me. Throughout my life, my hair loss has affected me so deeply, because hair is so closely linked to our sense of ourselves.
I was also taught from a young age that as Black women, our hair is our crown and we must do everything in our power to protect it. The afro was a symbol for Black Power during the “Black is Beautiful” movement in the 1960s, signaling a shift away from Eurocentric standards of beauty. Flashing to the present day, Solange’s “Don’t Touch My Hair” has become an anthem for many Black women who are frustrated by the prevalence of this particular microaggression.
That being said, the importance of hair is not exclusive to the Black community. In many Indigenous communities, hair represents the spirit, the soul, identity and tradition – thus cutting it often carries significant meaning. During the Holocaust, Nazis shaved Jewish people of their hair in concentration camps. Historians disagree on the basis for this act; some argue that it was solely utilitarian, to repurpose Jewish prisoners’ hair for material, but many argue that the reasoning was more insidious, in an effort to dehumanize. Losing my own hair felt like losing a right; like losing a freedom I would have honored for both my Black and Jewish ancestors.
Don’t Touch My Hair pays tribute to that freedom; the show is a personal joy to explore the many creative ways that artists have found to use and reference hair over the years. As a West African myself, the first artist I thought of to include was Nigerian photographer J.D. Okhai Ojeikere; I marvel at how he presents hair as sculpture. I’m moved by how Anya Paintsil uses her own hair to adorn her tapestries. Though hair is something that some of us might take for granted, these artists prove hair’s cultural, spiritual and personal significance.”
Image credit: Bre Johnson/BFA
