Hair is so ubiquitous that you may not even realize its significance. Hair is a personal expression of who we are, and how we want to be perceived by others. It is also a reflection of society, a window into the cultural norms of any given era. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford explores those topics and more in its latest exhibition, “Styling Identities: Hair’s Tangled Histories.”
For this exhibit, the Wadsworth crowdsourced the topic by asking its staff members and the Hartford community to share what hair means to them.
“We have a turban from Hartford’s Sikh community, we have a hijab, we have a wig,” said Chloe Collins, the Wadsworth’s assistant librarian and archivist. “We had the sense that people really wanted to be a part of this exhibition, and were willing to share their cultures with us.”
Typically, a museum will issue an exhibition catalog to accompany the exhibit. For “Styling Identities” the Wadsworth issued instead a “zine,” short for fanzine or magazine, as a way for artists and the community to contribute to the exhibition. The zine contains paintings, photography, collages, poems and personal reflections about hair.
“By harnessing all of the great experiences of our community, and aligning it with all of this incredible art, I feel like we’ve made something really special,” said Jama Holchin, the Wadsworth’s lead curator for the exhibit.
“Styling Identities: Hair’s Tangled Histories” runs through Aug. 11 at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford.
