From Braids to Art: Taiba Akhuetie's Unconventional Medium
Taiba Akhuetie's art is unsettling, primarily because it blurs the line between living and inanimate. Using human and synthetic hair as her medium, she crafts everyday objects such as handbags, mirrors, rocking chairs, and umbrellas, adorning them with long braids and straight strands. The result is a taxidermy-like eeriness that challenges perceptions.
Akhuetie, whose work is soon to be exhibited at the Sarabande Foundation in London, recalls her childhood fascination with hair. She remembers watching her aunt braid her sister's hair, mesmerized by the rapid movement of her fingers. In school in Kingston, Surrey, she braided friends' hair, feeling a natural aptitude for the craft.
Despite her skill, Akhuetie struggled with her own hair during childhood. Growing up in a white, middle-class area without financial means, she felt insecure about her Black identity. She says she felt gaslit when she expressed her differences, leading her to seek out people who affirmed her identity.
A Shift in Perspective
Her view of braids transformed as she began to see them as beautiful and therapeutic. In 2014, she co-founded Keash Braids with schoolfriend Jessy Linton, a pop-up braiding service that evolved into a permanent salon in Peckham, London. This coincided with the natural hair movement of the 2010s, which encouraged Black women to embrace natural styles over damaging straightening.
During lockdown, Akhuetie had to innovate. With human contact prohibited, she created an installation from hair scraps and a stool, wrapping it in braids and embellishing it with flowers and a bee. This experiment revealed hair as a medium off the head, solidifying her artistic path.
Viral Success and Celebrity Clients
Akhuetie gained fame with a large umbrella covered in dirty-blond hair, inspired by a rainy day. The piece garnered 100,000 views on TikTok, catching the attention of the fashion world. Vogue praised her textural, avant-garde garments, noting they redefine body hair.
She has styled for brands and created custom wearable pieces, but she insists she is not a fashion designer. Her work, while inspired by Black hair, is meant for everyone. In 2021, Rihanna commissioned a braided Louis Vuitton handbag, a piece so intricate it initially appears as a standard bag. Akhuetie has also dressed singer Tems for a Met Gala afterparty and actress Cate Blanchett.
Despite these high-profile collaborations, Akhuetie remains grounded. She advises against fixating on celebrities, emphasizing that her pieces should be worn by those who embody her work as art.
Sourcing and Authenticity
Akhuetie sources her hair from local shops like Pak's in Dalston, which offers discounts due to her bulk purchases. She uses brands like Impression and X-Pression, the same products she uses on her own hair. This authenticity creates a mirror between her work and viewers, evoking a cannibalistic gaze. She has adorned mirrors with braiding hair, playing with the concept of self-reflection.
The Tone: Exhibition and Themes
Her upcoming exhibition, The Tone, features her most ambitious work: a large cylindrical patchwork of different hair types stitched together. The piece speaks to multiple meanings of tone, including racial undertones. Akhuetie explains how as a Black person, she is told her tone is aggressive, and she must tone herself down. The work also references skin tone.
Another piece, Don't Touch My Table, is a table studded with resin beads on its underside, inspired by a glamorous Black girl with braids and beads. The title nods to the natural hair movement slogan Don't Touch My Hair, prompting viewers to question their impulse to touch others' hair.
The exhibition is a personal milestone for Akhuetie, who avoided studying art due to insecurity about being a Black artist. She believes the art world is still backward in its definition of art. By showcasing her work, she hopes to demonstrate that braiding and Black hair styling are legitimate art forms. Taiba Akhuetie: The Tone: Taiba's World of Hair runs at Sarabande Foundation, London, from 22 to 24 May.
