Fatou Kwame

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developing a third eye

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Blog 3: Project Outcomes and personal development 

During the past 6 weeks i’ve been working on the “mask making and politics” project which was one of the projects I chose from the better lives unit.

Mask making and politics is essentially the idea of taking the concept of masks and politics and merging the two together to create a visual statement. 

I chose this project because I really like the concept of masks on a visual and psychological scale even though this project is more visual but politics isn’t my strong point so I wanted to enhance that through this project. 

Within the project I learnt about the history of masks, the role masks play and the different processes and materials that are used to create different masks as well as learning how to convey a message through making a mask.

The outcome for this project was to select a political movement or figure and create either 1-3 mask designs on that. 

For mine I chose to do 3 mask designs based on the political movement “The Black Power Movement” of 1965 I decided to choose this because I found it interesting and because the issues that black African Americans faced then are still occurring in the 21st century and many people seem to turn a blind eye or try to invalidate the way black African Americans feel comes to racial issues and the way the government treats them, so I wanted to use this to raise awareness if words don’t work then I hope the power art and visual language will.

when I created these designs I went with simple designs incorporating key symbols and words using bold colours to bring light to the topic even though the black power movement was a serious thing. Adding colour also brings light into accepting the fact that being black is beautiful!

In the end my final outcomes came out well and I was able to achieve what I had envisioned. What I would have done better was focusing on what materials I would have used to create the masks and I focused more on the visual rather than the production. Overall I enjoyed the mask making and politics project it unlocked a new field for me that I would like to explore further if given the opportunity again the project also allowed me to apply the better lives themes I and through that I had a better understanding of how these three themes can be heavily involved iT really useful when I was making my masks. Within this Project and better lives unit in general my own personal development was a game changer because at first when I was creating things I was just doing it for the pure enjoyment and fun of it but now as I also have to find that balance of taking into consideration the three themes of: Diversity, social responsibility and sustainability making sure what i create is suitable not only to my standard but also the way people will perceive it. 

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Better Lives,Better Future

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At first when the better lives unit began I was lost because I didn’t quite understand the goal or what I was supposed to gain from this but when I thought about it and the more I engaged with the unit I began to see the benefits of the unit especially with the themes “Sustainability, “Diversity” and “Social Responsibility”. 

These three themes at first were at the back of my mind when I started but as time went on these three themes became more of use to me as I started learning and growing my understanding of the fashion industry and the challenges it faces through the lectures that I attended each lecture just made themes easier to understand and intertwine the themes in one.

With this generation being young and fresh delivering a new and fun perspective to the industry it is key that we students learn and be aware especially with the way society works. It is good to know from the get go so we don’t make the mistakes that fashion brands or designers make such as using harmful chemicals to create clothing or cultural appropriation or not catering to a diverse range of people. 

These three themes will help me change my work in the future  from a creative aspect. 

It will help me to be cautious with how far I can take things, especially when it comes to creating things that will be seen in the public eye or if I’m designing for a brand. 

Sustainability – as it allows me to see the environment as a person why? Because I have to be considerate, treat it well and be kinder to it  so it can live longer like we treat people around us as when you think about it the fashion industry is very harmful especially to the environment and if not cautious we could end up destroying it.

Diversity- is important as being a black fashion student it can be hard especially when I see things on social media about the way industry treats black people but also POC (people of colour), in that aspect I have to ensure in my future work I am being considerate of the diverse range of people it may attract and whether it is appropriate culturally as well as use my work as a voice to speak to people.

Social responsibility- that would be hardest to tackle in my future work as handling the responsibility of the way society works and frequently having to be up to date with the way the world is working in order to make my work “fit in” to look into the social issues that are constantly being brought up I think it will be a slow and steady process but after hearing different aspects and approaches to it through lectures it will be easier to get my head around.

In a practical sense I got to get a glimpse of how these themes do through my selected project “Mask making and politics”.

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CULTURALLY “WOKE”

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C

John Lau’s lecture on cultural sustainability was in my opinion the best lecture I have attended during the first two weeks of the better lives unit.

John Lau’s lecture was mainly about cultural diversity, how to sustain culture and how fashion brands and designers use or misuse the idea of cultural diversity.

The lecture itself was very fascinating to listen to and the subject matter is very relevant in today’s fashion world and society as we live in a time where the idea of culture is being either used or misused in certain ways. Fashion brands or designers tend to just create fashion without thinking about the impact it can have on people or ethnic groups  E.G Gucci early 2019 collection where they included jumpers that were black with a red mouth piece that sparked an uproar and it was labeled as racially offensive against black people which shows there are brands who don’t do their research before making things and that’s majority of fashion brands so there is a major issue with fashion brands not being culturally aware especially to its audiences or people who shop from them.

This example leads onto another major topic that was spoken about in the lecture which was cultural appropriation and appreciation from a western and eastern perspective which I agreed a lot with as western and eastern worlds take influences from both sides, there’s a level and extent to that as it can become issue when I dives into a cultural aspect for example braids.

Braids are a hairstyle that originates in black culture however in the media there have been multiple times where braids have been appropriated by people who are not black which has been an ongoing thing for a while even in the industry and big brands or designers get away with it. 

The way John Lau explained the idea of appropriation and appreciation it was perfect as a black young female student myself that’s exposed to social media.

I find and see a lot of people throw around and use black culture as a “trend” rather than appreciating black culture for it’s beauty and richness. Not even just black culture alot of cultures get appropriated rather than appreciated. 

I believe it’s so important especially within the fashion industry to earn about the cultural society that we live in so the new generation of fashion designers can flip the switch and create things that is appropriate and shows cultural awareness because ethnic groups of people  nowadays are more protective of their culture because of the way people, brands and designers have misused it without even learning about the culture they take from. On the other hand it’s also not just our responsibility but it is also fashion brands, designers and celebrities who need to also step up to be culturally aware as we live in an advanced time so we have no excuse to be ignorant when it comes to sustaining culture.

educate those who are unaware.

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