TANZJING
Tanzania, on the east-coast of Africa, counts the largest community of Albinos. Albinos, due to the absence of pigment in their skin, hair and eyes, are seen as different, arousing ambiguous reactions from the rest of the population: fear because they are seen as holders of magical power on the one hand, and envy on the other as people covet these powers.
Compare this to another population seen as different; the Chinese. The reaction is the same. On the one hand, some are afraid of a contemporary colonisation and talk about exploitation more than collaboration. On the other, China is considered as a economic saviour, a partner for development and this view has a social influence, as some Tanzanian women whiten themselves in order to seduce chinese men.
These reactions can be compared to the QR code in some ways. Indeed, this two dimensioned bar code is a spreading technology as it can contain a lot of information and provide a brief explanation very quickly. It offers, however, only a superficial overview. This collection is therefore developed over the concept of a"slow response” to the Tanzanian and their views on the Albino and Chinese communities; looking at their first impressions and exploring them in greater detail.
The materials are QR based patterns printed in corrosion over a mixed composition skin colour jersey and in woollen knitwear structures (left and right loops in emerald merino wool) in analogy to basic african prints in ton sur ton.
These combine with a mix of salmon and lamb leather (in midnight blue and olive green) and thick lama wool hand-knitted in structured skin colour tones in dark brown, as well as basic dark blue piquet and twill.
CREDITS
Collection Development Partner— dapit
Collection Image Photography— Aloísio Brito
Collection Image Makeup— Tinoca
Collection Styling— V!TOR feat Nelson Vieira
Music— Ana Rita Alves
Jewlery and Objects— Pedro Sequeira
Production Support — dapit
Hair — Bruno Bessa Cruz
Graphic Design— V!TOR