The exhibition Power Dressing: Men’s Fashion and Prestige in Africa, at the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, considers a rich and extensive topic. Being the first of its kind in North America, Power Dressing is a collection of textiles and other pieces of wearable art worn primarily by male figures of authority from Morocco to South Africa. With its breadth of objects, visitors can view the diversity of materials and cultural nuances in the African continent, but all with a central theme.

Power Dressing examines in-depth how traditional symbols of power continue to exist in this modern age, as well as the roles it has played in the past. Even with the advent and influences of the western cultures, African traditions still have held strength throughout the twenty and twenty-first centuries, from local tribes to members of national governments. An anecdote from the catalog describes how in 1959, Oba Adesida II, a Déjì or regional leader of the Yoruba and an attorney who had studied law in Dublin, dressed in traditional and extravagant clothing in posing for a Life magazine photographer. Such notables as Nelson Mandela still wear the beads and garments of his culture, the Thembu. These trends have continued with several African nations, illustrating the importance that the garments and accoutrements maintain with the African peoples.

Power Dressing is especially interesting in that its subject matter’s breadth shows the difference in cultural attitudes towards status. In some African tribes or groups, such as the Yoruba, voluminous layers of clothing indicate power and wealth while others, like the Dinka, emphasize minimalism close to nakedness because of their nomadic nature. A dance ensemble of the Wodaabe people flips the usual roles of male and female adornment, with the male playing the part of the peacock with brightly colored embroidered clothing.

Roughly forty garments and wearable items compose the collection. From beads to leather to silk to wool, all are used in some fashion or another in the show’s many striking works. Some pieces use animal parts, such as a ceremonial ensemble from Cameroon festooned in porcupine quills, representing protection and also a sign of royal power. A brilliant feathered headdress, also from Cameroon, worn by Bamileke palace dancers, simultaneously emphasizes the wilderness of nature through the birds they represent and luxury, as an item restricted by the ruling elite. Others, such as a crown from Ghana, utilize gold leaf to illustrate the status of the individual, as well as a by-product of British colonialism. The crown combines traditional symbols of the Akan-speaking kingdoms of Ghana, such as stars and the moon, with European influences like rampant lions and fleur-de-lis. A Wodaabe dance ensemble includes modern safety pins down the front in order to shine and attract attention.

Exhibits that tie significance to the art being displayed demonstrate that these objects hold their own intrinsic value to the people who made them beyond that of simple aesthetics. Power Dressing explores the traditions of men’s fashion, an unusual topic. That the collection being examined stretches the length of Africa itself makes the exhibition a fascinating one as well.

Power Dressing: Men’s Fashion and Prestige in Africa shows at the Museum of International Folk Art to February 18, 2007. The Museum is located on Museum Hill, Camino Lejo off Old Santa Fe Trail. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Visit the Museum’s website at www.internationalfolkart.org, or call 505.476.1200 for information. Photographs courtesy of The Newark Museum.
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Published in Ornament Magazine, Volume 30, No. 2, 2006.
—Author Patrick Benesh-Liu is Editorial Assistant of Ornament.
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