Faculty of Design

Material Art & Design

Khalalelo Sithole

African Canadian Coded Textile Collection

A Fashion & Textile Collection encoding the erasure of African Canadian History

“The preservation of cultural identity and history has long been an issue for African Canadians. We know of Rosa Parks but not of Viola Desmond, former resident of Africville.This constant erasure and exclusion of our important history leads to an overshadowing of our identity in comparison to our American neighbors. If our history is unknown or hidden away, then our identity will be too. While you observe my work, you must look through multiple layers of meanings and symbols each print conveys. Displaying the hidden histories of both my cultures: the Zimbabwean Ndebele and the Nova Scotia Black Loyalists. Both cultures share a similar history of lost identity during times of oppression. Each garment tells a story embedded within the textiles. The coded collection is a representation of my identity and the erasure that has been placed on African Canadian history.”