Dandara Maie

Dandara Maia is a researcher and curator pursuing a PhD in African studies at the University of Bayreuth. At the Museum of Modern African Art, Iwalewahaus, she was part of the curatorial team of three exhibitions dedicated to African textiles, WAXATLAS, NOT YET, and FLOATING ASSEMBLIES. Her scholarly pursuits encompass diverse areas, including fashion in Africa, African textiles, material culture, and the political utilization of fashion within the Black diaspora. Her current Ph.D. research focuses on mapping sensuous experiences associated with ankara fabrics in Nigeria and Brazil. Her project at Balmoral engages with artistic exercises on Eshu, an Orisha (Yoruba deity) who holds the ashe, the vital energy.  The curatorial project aims to illuminate the contemporary resonances with the Yoruba trickster reclaiming Eshu from colonial misrepresentation and presenting him as a potent symbol of cultural resilience and emancipatory potential. In doing so, it aspires to manifest and conceptualize the Yoruba philosophy of  Eshu and the crossroads and its Atlantic translations as a plastic, poetic, and mythical force of communion and (re)creation.