Chawntay Barrett (she/her) is an emerging artist and facilitator based in the Greater Toronto Area. Community is an important aspect in Chawntay’s creative practice, as she is a recent alumni of the ArtworksTO Next Stream program and the Remix Project. Chawntay works primarily with oil and acrylic paint on canvas as well as with digital media for illustrations and design. As a woman of afro-Caribbean descent, Caribbean culture is a vital underlying theme in many of her artworks; the majority of her work explores the black experience in the modern era.
Treasures of Ours
Nabil Shash
Ethnicity: Ethiopian
Attached is a photo of a hat and scarf that’s gifted to Harari men when we get married. Although I rarely get to wear it, it symbolizes a step into adulthood. These two items were made in Harar, Ethiopia and gifted to me by a friend of my father. It also symbolizes the love my parents have received from the community, through to me.
As a child of diaspora, the closes connection I have to the harari community is through weddings. That’s where you see traditional clothing, hear traditional songs, and celebrate in a traditional fashion. I don’t know the language, how to cook the food and didn’t get married to a Harari woman. So these garments represent community, my community, and outside of my parents and my blood, are my only connection to it.
The hat is called a quofia, which I think literally translates into hat. I never learned what the scarf’s actual name is but let me check with my dad. They were gifted to me by a friend of my parents on the day of my wedding to wear. Traditionally, I should continue to wear it at weddings as a symbol that I am married.
-
Tags
,
