A RECENT video post of a beautiful Himba woman celebrating her culturally-adorned hair and attire to the musical musings of Solange Knowles’s Don’t Touch My Hair, posted by photographer Trevor Stuurman on his Instagram page in October 10 last year was removed by the social media platform for not complying with the community rules.
The women as per tradition had their breast exposed. The Himba are an indigenous people of Namibia, who are famous for their red ochre covered skin.
The women are known for the distinct hair and striking jewellery they adorn. Apart from the jewellery and their headdresses, they can be seen bare-breasted, while wearing a traditional skirt made from calfskin leather.
It is their bare breasts that have recently become the subject of censorship on the image-sharing social media platform Instagram.
This was the motive for Stuurman’s exhibition at the Cape Town Art Fair where he showcased a handful of the Himba women in their traditional attires.
His Instagram post during the fair, a video clip of his exhibition, garnered over a million views.
The context of his initial post was centred on the cultural significance and adornment of the native Himba women’s hair, he explained.
“The post was meant as a celebration of this as I have used my page on Instagram to celebrate fashion and culture globally, but particularly on the African continent, as this is my home and first frame of reference.
"This exhibition seeks to tackle the hypersexualisation of the female form, particularly the black female body. The photographs were taken in an urban setting; illustrating that what is deemed 'traditional' and 'primitive' does and should exist symbiotically within modernity. The women exhibited are important and instrumental in dismantling the notion that one is obliged to choose between 'culture' and 'modernity'.
"The photos seek to dispel the understanding that the naked body is a sexualised body."