Afro-Sagrada Familia
Nordstrom Installation | Afro-Sagrada Familia & Ezili Dantor, Freedom & The African Diaspora | 2020
Afro-Sagrada Familia | Zahir Ajam Mawon (2019) | Kaila Bule (2019) | Jordano (2022) | Saso (2021) | Yaissa, (2021) | Patricia (2022)
Afro-Sagrada Familia | (L) Zahir Ajam Mawon | (R) Kaila | 2019 - 2022
Of The Sacred, Critical Distance Centre For Curators, Toronto, Canada. 2022
Afro-Sagrada Familia | (L) Saso | (R) Yaissa | 2021
Beyond The Margins: An Exploration of Latina Art & Identity, The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah. 2023
Afro-Sagrada Familia | Zahir Ajam Mawon | 2019
Publish in Aperture Magazine 241 | Winter 2020 | Print
Calling in the Spirit | For Latinx photographers, a search for belonging
The Afro-Sagrada Familia series plays on The Basílica de la Sagrada Família, a large unfinished Roman Catholic minor basilica in Barcelona, Spain. It draws from Catholic paintings and Afro-Syncretic religions such as Santeria and Vodou for inspiration regarding poses and symbolism stylistic choices. The subjects evoke African Orishas or deities through colors and some via the sculptural objects they harbor. For example, Yaissa, with the seashell, alludes to the Yoruba orisha Yemaya, while Patricia, dressed in red, holding ceramic sugarcanes, is a nod to the Yoruba orisha Shango. These portraits of Afro-Dominican performers dressed in costume handwoven pieces anchor the African roots of Hispaniola, modern-day Dominican Republic, and Haiti. These images ask why some communities are viewed as sacred while other cultures get erased from history. Afro-Sagrada Familia is an ongoing portraiture series.
Long Gallery Harlem & Nordstrom | Styling: Black Expression, Rebellion, and Joy Through Fashion| 2020
Nordstrom Installation Photo by Connie Zhou