AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 1

It isn’t only an ethnicity, not
only a part of her identity, Ghana
is a family heirloom passed down
to her from her mother and grandmother,
not through explanation, but
by meaningful objects and meaningful
moments. From her grandmother
and great-grandmother,
the designer received a collection
of Kente cloth. As diverse as they are
beautiful, the collection of vintage
fabrics includes instances of pink and
green stripes and elaborate black and
white patterns, as well as the familiar
patterns that are more commonly
collected under the term. From her
mother she inherited her love of
fashion, remembering the stylish
ensembles her mother would create
and her trademark way of matching
her bag to each outfit.
In more concrete terms, Ghana
is a frequent destination of Nana Yaa’s
travels, as she goes often to visit her
mother. True to form however, it isn’t
the bustle and noise of cities that hold
the most interest for her, but the quiet
spaces further north.
“When I go to Ghana I don’t stay
in Accra for long” she offers. “I like to
go up to where my mother’s family is.
I spend a lot of time talking to them,
and I listen.” In those quiet spaces,
Nana Yaa connects to what she feels
are the essential lessons of the place
and the culture, and discovers the
space to let her creativity find new and
ever-more-honest means of expression.
In its most recent incarnation,
her search has transcended both the
verbal and the visual to explore the
kinetic in a unique and mesmerizing
form of performance art.
Nana Yaa is quick to decry any
notion of her performance as dance
or herself as a dancer. While at first
glance it might seem the most natural
categorization, closer inspection
issue one