AGBARA

Skin bleaching is still a global issue. To meet Western standards of beauty, people with darker skin – mostly women – use harsh chemicals to remove melanin from their skin. This project questions the wish for fairer skin, connected to a long history of white dominance. Inspired by West-African Manilla jewellery, once used as currency in the slave trade, Yinka Buutfeld created a set of awareness pieces. Using various passementerie and bleaching techniques on rough shipping rope, she transforms the shackles of the past into voluminous accessories. Bearing the marks of the chemical treatment, they send out a statement to cherish all skin colours. AGBARA, meaning power in Yoruba, empowers the body’s natural beauty.