Every once in a while someone complains that I don't have enough hat posts around here, which is the sad truth, so I'm glad that plep has provided me with the opportunity to share with you the National Museum of African Art's "Hats Off!" page.
Modifying or adorning the body is a means through which African peoples express their collective and individual pride, ideals, aesthetics and identity. Many African cultures throughout the continent have long considered the head the center of one's being—a source of individual and collective identity, power, intelligence and ability. Adorning the head as part of everyday attire or as a statement, therefore, is especially significant.You can find more hats by going to The Diversity of African Art and clicking on Costume Accessories and then picking Hats out of the first drop-down menu. And I like the fact that they give local names, e.g. "Cap (shüötu)," though I wish they'd indicate the actual language. Posted by languagehat at April 8, 2006 01:24 PM
While we're on the topic, nothing to do with African hats, but it did make me smile.
- The perpetrator was a haberdasher name John Hetherington, who designed it, made it and was the first person to wear it into the street. According to a contemporary newspaper account, passersby panicked at the sight. Several women fainted, children screamed, dogs yelped, and an errand boy’s arm was broken when he was trampled by the mob. Hetherington was hauled into court for wearing "a tall structure having a shining luster calculated to frighten timid people." -
Posted by: aldiboronti at April 9, 2006 02:19 PMGreat link -- thanks!
Posted by: language hat at April 9, 2006 04:10 PMHey, LH, I wandered over from Word Origins on a poster's recommendation. I had no idea the "hat" part of your name was literal. But your post made me think of this guy. He's local, and shot a lot of the images for the book in my town. I remember seeing them at the Baltimore Museum of Art before the book came out and loving them. Obviously, the individual pride in one's hat was something that managed to survive a forced Atlantic crossing and unimaginable deprivations. Somehow it gives me a little more faith in humanity to know that.
Posted by: Bambo at April 10, 2006 03:07 PMGreat link!
There was a black Baptist church in the same block as the Catholic church I attended while growing up. As I child I was very impressed with the hats of the women attending the Baptist church. Their fabulous hats put the Catholic women's black mantillas to shame. As a child it never occurred to me that the passion for great hats traced back to Africa. What an amazing testament to the strength and deep humanity of those who came here in chains and still maintained their cultural roots.
Posted by: Janet at April 10, 2006 04:09 PMYou want hats? We have hats!
http://www.jameslock.co.uk/aboutus.taf?_UserReference=57B266F05B37FE3A443BF6B0
Meant to say thanks for a great African link, lh!
Posted by: Eliza at April 11, 2006 02:29 PMHats: Park Slope update.
Posted by: Tatyana at April 11, 2006 08:00 PM