FOREMOTHERS
In New York, ORUN X Designers presents Loza Maléombho’s Spring/Summer collection, in collaboration with ORUN and Delphine Diallo. The narrative draws on the seven Hermetic principles as a lens. Seven foremothers answer to this framework; each is linked to one of these principles and clarifies the show’s trajectory without weighing it down. The notes that follow lay this groundwork. At the heart of the show, they appear, weaving continuity between memory and the avant-garde and giving the collection the role of a passage.
Harriet Tubman
(March 1822 – March 10, 1913)
Harriet Tubman
Born enslaved in Maryland, she escaped, then returned at night to guide others to freedom via the Underground Railroad...
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Maya Angelou
(April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014)
Maya Angelou
A childhood marked by years of silence, then a voice that became a tool for repair. Her autobiography I Know Why the Caged ...
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Miriam Makeba
(March 4, 1932 – November 9, 2008)
Miriam Makeba
A South African singer and emblem of anti-apartheid exile, she brought her cause to the UN and to major stages...
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Queen Nzinga (Njinga)
(1583 – December 17, 1663)
Queen Nzinga (Njinga)
Sovereign of Ndongo and Matamba, she negotiated with the Portuguese while consolidating the ritual authority of her court...
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Marie Rose Guiraud
(September 10, 1944 – April 20, 2020)
Marie Rose Guiraud
Ivorian choreographer and teacher, founder of EDEC and the troupe Les Guirivoires. She collected gestures rooted in initiation...
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Wangari Maathai
(April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011)
Wangari Maathai
Kenyan biologist and activist, founder of the Green Belt Movement in 1977. For her, planting trees became a lever for land rights...
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Yaa Asantewaa
(1840 – October 17, 1921)
Yaa Asantewaa
Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, she rejected the British demand to surrender the Golden Stool, symbol of the nation’s soul...
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