The brains behind Royal Hair Salon, Nikiwe Dlova, is a young creative from Soweto and her favourite way to express herself is through hair, fashion, music and art | Picture: Instagram
This coming weekend will be your last chance to enjoy a new perspective of African hair as provided by artist Nikiwe Dlova at her Royal Hair Salon exhibition.
The exhibition has been on for the last month or so at fellow artist Nelson Makamo’s Botho Project Space in Johannesburg.
According to an explainer at the entrance of the exhibition, Royal Hair Salon is “a grand statement of African pride and a restored sense of luxury and royalty with an art exhibition that elevates the influence of African hairstyles to an evolved interpretation of grandeur and richness.”
The exhibition – built with the support of the French Institute and created in collaboration with Dark and Lovely – is quite interactive. It features a range of items that you can touch, wear or pose on or in.
One of the most striking things about Dlova’s work – in general, and at Royal Hair Salon – is her love for texture and colour – two of the greatest hallmarks of African hair and the range of styles it can be worn in.
Dlova is a young creative from Soweto and her favourite way to express herself is through hair, fashion, music and art.
Even if you may not have ever met her, if you’ve seen her, you’re bound to remember her by the stunning and unique hairstyles she wears.
In 2020, her work featured in the Disney and Beyonce film ‘Black is King’ in the form of a headpiece she designed for musician Busiswa Gqulu.
Speaking to Times Live shortly after the film’s premiere, Dlova said the opportunity could not have come at a better time.
“The feature was very important for me because my work is based on being African, so being on a platform like Black Is King is validating. It says I’m on the right track.
“For Beyoncé to support local small businesses means a lot. We got to share our creative stories for the world to see that creativity in Africa is vast,” said Dlova.
The closing date of the Royal Hair Salon exhibition has been reserved for a Masterclass with Dlova which is actually sold out.
If that is not a sign of how sought-after her work is, we don’t know what is.
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