DAY OF RECORD: NAILS, WEAVES & NATURALS

Day of Record: Nails, Weaves and Naturals

Vanessa Lee (at Nevs Model Agency) with hair by Purely Natural Hair Salon. Photograph by Michelle Jorseling

On Monday 7 May 2001 the Victoria and Albert Museum staged its second Day of Record, a series of events cataloguing applied and decorative arts in relation to the body. To celebrate the diversity of Black British hairstyles and nail art, over 1200 people attended the event with elaborately decorated nails and sporting a full range of hairstyles (from cornrows and twists to dreadlocks and natural styles).

Talks

Caroline Cox
Hair Rage: The Personal Politics of Black Hair.

Hair is a serious business. By cutting and styling our hair we participate in ritualistic and creative behaviour which says much about ourselves and our place in culture. Hair is a visual statement whether curled, shaved, dyed, straightened or greased and in the 20th and 21st centuries the hairdresser has moved away from the position of servile artisan to the status of guru. Black hair has always been at the centre of debates about tonsorial beauty. Viewed as 'problem' hair in the early 20th century, from the 1950s onwards styles such as the Afro and dreadlocks have signified variously 'authenticity', 'kitsch' and political protest. This talk investigates the cultural debates over black hair from the writings in Ebony magazine to cultural theorist Kobena Mercer - can black hair ever be 'natural' and why should its appearance strive for authenticity?

Joel Karamath
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

In 1968 James Brown stated that 'black is beautiful'. The same year Tommy Smith and John Carlos stood on the winners' podium, at the Mexico Olympics, gloved fists raised, announcing African-American status to the world. Despite the overt signatures of the Civil Rights and Pan-African movements in America in the 60s and 70s, no other symbol of the era managed to assert the new political aesthetic more than the ubiquitous Afro hairdo, yet the issues that arose in relation to 'good' and 'bad' hair date back to the birth of the colonial period and are still as crucial to day in helping to shape and define a 'black cultural identity'. 

Karen Shepherd
100% Acrylic

Why is it that nail art resonates so particularly with black culture? This talk examines attitudes within the black community to the manicure and the distinct manner in which black women have subverted the traditional manicure. It considers the salon environment, drawing parallels with the sophistication of black hairdressing. The influence of current black performers on the popularity of nail art is also considered. This along with a number of other factors have combined to create a natural canvas for the expression of black innovation and imagination. Nail art therefore represents both a gesture of defiance against eurocentric beauty ideals and a sense of shared identity through this vivid manifestation of black culture.

Faisal Abdu’Allah
The Public Private View Where Intimacy, Hope and Glory Collide With Reality

Artist and barber Faisal Abdu’Allah staged a performance event based on the human head as a canvas. 

Sharon Miller

Top hairstylist Sharon Miller demonstrated a series of techniques used to style black hair. Using four models Sharon demonstrated thermal pressing, plaits, twists, extensions and straightening natural hair.

Further Information 

Books

Banks, Ingrid. Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women's Consciousness
(New York ; London: New York University Press, 2000.)

Bonner, Lonnice Brittenum. Good Hair: For Coloured Girls Who've Considered Weaves When the Chemicals Became Too Ruff
(New York, Crown Publishing Group, 1994)

Byrd, Ayana et al.. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001)

Coen, Patricia, Maxwell, Joe and Wagenvoord, James. Beautiful braids: the step-by-step guide to perfect plaiting for every occasion and all ages
(London: Century, 1988)

Michele Collison. It's All Good Hair : The Definitive Guide to Styling and Grooming Black Children's Hair
(Amistad Press, 2002)

Cox, Caroline. Good hair days: a history of British hairstyling
(London: Quartet Books, 1999)

Ebong, Ima (Ed.). Black Hair
(Universe Publishing, 2001)

Magnin, André. 'Okhai Ojeikere: photographs. [Photographs of hairstyles taken in Nigeria]
(Zurich & New York: Scalo, 2000)

Moss Cheryl T., Healthy Hair Care Tips For Today's Black Woman
(Talley Publishing, 1999)

Jones, Dylan. Haircults : fifty years of styles and cuts
(London: Thames and Hudson, 1990)

Sagay. Esi. African hairstyles. styles of yesterday and today
(London. Heinemann. 1983)

Scherz. A. Hair-styles Head-dresses and ornaments in South West Africa/Namibia and Southern Angola
(Gamsberg: Uitgewers, 1981)

Sieber. Roy. Hair in African Art and Culture. New York. Museum for African Art
(Munich and London. Prestel. 2000)
 

Websites

Archive and Museum of Black Heritage
The official site for the Archive and Museum of Black Heritage. AMBH held two exhibitions on the subject of Black hair and hairdressing in 2001.

Endarkenment
This site contains essays, stories and links for all aspects of Black Hair.

BlackHairCare.com
The official Black Hair Care website

AfroHair.com
Information, articles and further links

Nails Magazine
A site addressing all aspects of nails, their care and decoration