PARR KZN Reflection : Sheila Nakitende

The residency was more than a cross-cultural platform. It availed cross-generational exchange of knowledge in a cross-disciplinary form of engagement ranging from fashion designers, performing artists, photographers, videographers, papermakers, sculptors, writers, poets, and students etc.

Using fashion as a language, this residency unfolded meaningful conversations beyond fashion itself. For example the communal /collective making language and its potential, multicultural ways of life and conversations on the environment( how we in Buganda wrap banana fibre around the Mutuba tree for it to regenerate after harvesting the bark was unknown in Durban and yet possible). The existence of the Ficus Natalensis (Mutuba) from which bark cloth is harvested and the similar weather pattern in Durban was a highlight. Sourcing from the past to learning in the present and establishing how to navigate the future answered so many questions that we were pondering in the research. It broadened the unpredictable scope confirming the solution-based nature of this research project which would need further engagement and input. There is a need for more intra-African dialogues as avenues to establish solutions for socioeconomic problems that we are facing on the continent. Our histories, cultures, languages, and some of the challenges that we encounter are quite similar and relatable. Therein lies the potential for us as a Pan-African community to engage, unlearn and reconstruct a desired vision. We are highly limited by structural and political boundaries but not by thoughts, ideas and our utmost potential. The residency established a good network of meaningful relationships. It unlocked new dimensions of unlimited possibilities in my practice which is evolving through techniques, language and archiving. Practising decolonial fashion research was another masterclass for me.

The New Patterns Workshop was made possible by the generous support of the National Arts Council @nacsouthafrica