Meet @fabiolajeanlouis, one of the many contemporary artists whose work is featured in Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room.
Her stunning adaptation of the 19th-century corset dress features a gilded brooch at the neck portraying Ezili Dantor, the loa (spirit) of vengeance in Vodou that helped inspire and guide self-liberated insurrectionists during the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804).
Apart from the jewelry, much of this regal dress is sculpted from modest materials—paper sheets and clay—celebrating the creative and radical aspects of the Black imagination, both of which insist on “making a way out of no way.”
With its bold, saturated colors and generous adornments, the ensemble flaunts Victorian ideals of propriety and allows the assertive wearer to push against gendered and racialized expectations.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibition to explore further.
Meet the Artists: Fabiola Jean-Louis
2 min. watch
Contributors
Managing Producer: Kate Farrell
Producer: Melissa Bell
Editor: Lela Jenkins
Graphic Design: Abby Chen
Music: Austin Fisher
Photographs: Paul Lachenauer
Special thanks: Fabiola Jean-Louis, Sarah Lawrence, Ian Alteveer, Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie, Claire Lanier, Victoria Martinez, Sofie Andersen
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