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Abstract
In this article, I discuss the curatorial moment in a museum that rendered a pair of embellished trousers in a new light, and what acts of giving space to an object and its story can do to rewrite a range of narratives, including global fashion histories, diverse cultural voices, museal collections and the extent of ongoing archival violence. I draw on a seminal South African fashion exhibition that I curated in 2019 at the Zeitz MOCAA museum, titled 21 YEARS: Making Histories with South African Fashion Week. In conjunction with the exhibition, we convened workshops and talks as part of the exhibition’s public program that used decolonial strategies to invite greater diversity and participation for an expanded range of inclusion. This article follows the complex, largely disavowed social, historical, and political histories stored in the seams of one fashion object—a pair of well-worn and patched jeans—that are activated when recontextualized within the value-laden, knowledge-production museum field.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 I am also indebted to pioneering fashion curator, Judith Clark for her original development of the notion of a genealogy of dress as a curatorial concept in the exhibition “Malign Muses: When Fashion Turns Back,” commissioned by Mode Museum, Antwerp in 2004 (see O’Neill Citation2008).
2 The exhibition coincided with the celebration and publication of Twenty One Years of SA Fashion Week (edited by Anthony Tischhauser Citation2018) with the founder of South African Fashion Week, Lucilla Booyzens.
3 My PhD thesis, Sartorial Disruption (de Greef Citation2018a) explored the persistence of colonial and apartheid legacies that continue to mark the dress and fashion collections across three distinct museum sites at Iziko Museums, two decades after the end of apartheid. I argue that African fashion objects, when considered as alternative archives, can contribute to reimagining, re-scripting and redressing current museal dilemmas across multiple disciplines.
4 A book outcome from this exhibition (Citation2021 forthcoming) and edited by Akou et al., addresses the limits, issues and concerns of Creating African Fashion Histories: Politics, Museums and Sartorial Practice.
5 The first democratic elections in South Africa were held in 1994 resulting in the election of then-president, Nelson Mandela, which saw the end of the oppressive apartheid system and a transition into a post-apartheid democracy. Transformation efforts, particularly in heritage practices such as museums, and in creative industries such as film, fashion and media platforms have focused on facilitating previously marginalized voices and histories.
6 Wandi Nzimande recalled the controversy in a conversation at the exhibition opening, Zeitz MOCAA, November 14, Citation2018.
7 The trousers are also referred to as umBlaselo. Various online traditional clothing brands, such as Earth Africa advertise the garment, stating that “umBlaselo originated from old clothing that was patched over to further the life of the garment. This has now developed into a colourful, traditionally South African outfit highly prized not only by Zulu men but all African men.” (Accessed 30 January 2020). https://earthafricacurio.com/african-crafts/madiba-shirts/umblaselo-zulu-mens-waistcoat-trouser-set-detail
8 Similar practices of stitching, cutting, and beading of both formal and mass-produced trousers were also common amongst Xhosa and Mfengu cultures (from the Eastern Cape). There are four pairs of embellished trousers in the South African IZIKO Museum collection. SAM14035 is a pair of boy’s khaki shorts decorated with beads; SAM14268 is a pair of lined black cut-off pants geometrically decorated with pearl buttons and white and turquoise beads; SAM14394 is a pair of roughly cut-off trousers, decorated all-over with beads and ink writing; and, SAM14395 is a cream-coloured, pair of formal cut-off trousers decorated with fine bands of black appliqué cloth and white and turquoise beads (de Greef Citation2018a, 34).
9 Email correspondence, Sibonelo Ndwalane, 30 October 2019.
10 Email correspondence, Sibonelo Ndwalane, 30 October 2019.
11 The exhibition Repair and Design Futures ran concurrently to 21 YEARS: Making Histories with South African Fashion Week at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence (October 2018–June 2019). Accessed 12 March 2020. https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/repair-and-design-futures
12 Ndwalane inherited other items of clothing on this same occasion, but did not give further details of these items. There was only one pair of mblaselo. Although the mblaselo are now produced commercially, it is uncommon for wearers to own more than one or two pairs.
13 Ukusina is a traditional Zulu war or “warrior” dance, where a performer lifts one foot over his head, and then lands the leg firmly on the ground, at times falling backwards. The dance is usually performed in groups and at times a group member comes centre stage to perform their own moves.
14 Email correspondence, Sibonelo Ndwalane, 30 October 2019.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Erica de Greef
Erica de Greef is co-founder of the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Curator at Large in Fashion at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) in Cape Town. Her PhD thesis in African Studies from the University of Cape Town, titled “Sartorial Disruptions,” investigated the contemporary stasis and colonial traces in the dress and fashion collections in South African museums. [email protected]