WHO IS WEARING MY T-SHIRT -THE BILLBOARD PROJECT
Textile Installations on billboards/ Opening Wednesday Dec 17th, 5.30pm at Alliance Francaise and departure and shuttle to different locations.
It is not only that foreign clothes have been accepted: second-hand foreign clothing has become the norm. We must question the impact of this on our self-perception, self worth and on collective meaning. The artist Zohra Opoku explores this key issue in Ghanaian society from an artist's perspective.
The traditions of African culture can be read through the clothing. The designs of the fabric have meaning, containing our wisdom, philosophies, and myriad histories. At any point in time, clothes can tell us who a person is, where they are from, their social status, and even what their spiritual beliefs are. Do our clothes make up our traditions and culture? If this is true, what happens to our identity when the clothes are changed? As second-hand clothes from other cultures are embraced, we must confront the cultural ramifications of this shift in what we wear. What happens to the messages that have always been passed down through African fabric? Can progress be made when the role those fabrics have played in socializing us are neglected?
With the WHO IS WEARING MY T-SHIRT - THE BILLBOARDPROJECT, Zohra is following up on her experimental exploration of the effects of the import of Second-hand garments to Africa. The project is trying by means of project-based activity to study on the ground experiences in Africa as they interface with Second-hand clothing import and export. This exploration takes us through five installations in different places in Accra, which will each feature a distinct composition of this phenomenon, using unwanted garments from the Accra market.
With the kind support by Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Goethe Institute, Alliance Francaise, Apple Pie Publicity, Brighten Ghana Consult, Global Outdoor Systems