African Hats and Hair

October 30, 2003 10:39 AM

Hats Off! A Salute to African Headwear. 'Many African cultures throughout the continent have long considered the head the center of one's being--a source of individual and collective identity, power, intelligence and ability. Adorning the head as part of everyday attire or as a statement, therefore, is especially significant. '
Related :- African Loxo: photos of hairstyles from the Fifties (in French); mathematical patterns in African American hairstyles.
posted by plep (6 comments total)

Also African barber signs.
posted by plep at 10:42 AM on October 30, 2003

Neat.
posted by interrobang at 11:16 AM on October 30, 2003

plep, I see with your third link you are keeping with the recent mefi math art craze ;-)

I love, love, love these signs. Maybe iconomy will go to the salon with me and we can get new 'do-s.
btw - the Hats Off site (a neat little exhibit) leads to this fabulous array of African exhibits.

Nice stuff as always, plep!
posted by madamjujujive at 5:19 PM on October 30, 2003

Thinks :- Next time mjjj comes to the UK, she really must visit the Pitt Rivers Museums where some of these barber signs are exhibited!
posted by plep at 11:24 PM on October 30, 2003

These are wonderful links, plep. I was blown away by the portraits (especially the second group) in the African Loxo site... so wonderful.

More African hats (check out the wooden "bowler" at the bottom left.) from the really wonderful Hat Horizons exhibit of headgear from around the world.

calling languagehat, come in, languagehat...
posted by taz at 3:05 AM on October 31, 2003

The math thing is IgNobel material.
posted by falameufilho at 9:57 AM on October 31, 2003