Chiedza Kaseke
Collection
Colonization has affected many people across the globe and the effects are still being felt today. Cultures and traditions are being forgotten and neglected because the wests way of life is seen as the standard. This has resulted in this current generation losing touch with their roots and heritage just as our ancestors did when the colonizers took over. The cycle of loss is repeating itself and I am looking for a way to heal the wounds of the diaspora to this generation.
An era where clothing is sustainable and has been built to have longevity. Clothing that is wearable but contains aspects of sub-saharan culture and futuristic ideas.
I wanted to bring in that element of hand craft into my collection just as my grandmother did in the gifts she gave as well as the Nyora of my great grandmother. My solution to this was to use machine knitting to create scarification textures and patterns into my knitting.
This whole process allowed me to appreciate what my grandmother did even more.
I had the intention of creating a pattern that immolated the cave paintings from back home near our homestead. These cave paintings have a certain style that I wanted to mimic in my own pattern making.
I did this by first creating symbols on illustrator and seeing how they would look printed out and in the form of pleats. Then I made different punchcards for machine knitting to see what I could develop and choose as my main pattern.
After choosing my main pattern and image for this collection, I carved it out on linoleum and use block printing on the garments that had pleats and the design.
Bio
Chiedza Kaseke is a South African born Zimbabwean designer who draws inspiration from her homestead, ancestors and culture while creating a future that she hopes for. She uses her experience growing up in the diaspora, cultural motifs, objects and art practices to inform her designs.
This allows her to explore ways in which she can rebuild the weakening connection between this generation and culture. She designs to allow people to re-embrace their legacy’s in the setting of a future. A future where people are able to embody their roots while moving forward into an optimistic era.