Kibibi Ajanku makes and presents ethnically charged art. Her passion embodies the
thrust of the African Diaspora. Kibibi’s creativity is the ongoing and ever evolving effort
of her life journey. Her work is eclectic and innovative. It is ancient while at the same
time new-world and always changing. Ajanku’s muscle as a visual artist spans from
contemporary fine art to village inspired craft, and the performance. Her artistry is
layered with… and entrenched in… indigenous folkways. Her work embodies research,
identity, and the gathering of elements of African retention, in hopes of evoking
intuitive memories that reach back into ancestral histories and stories that impact the
here and the now.
Kibibi Ajanku’s passion for art began early. She was nurtured by “grandma’s hands” as
she sat at the knees of a quilt making maternal grandmother and soon followed on the
heels of fashion forward seamstress aunties. This fueled an artistic journey as an
exploration and execution of an indigenous aesthetic. Ajanku is empowered by
international training and workshops: adire fabric design in Osogbo, Nigeria; tapestries
in Theis, Senegal; adinkra fabric printing and kente weaving in Kumasi, Ghana; mud cloth
acquisitions from the Mali railway; embroidery work in Medina, Senegal; and Orisha
attire in Havana, Cuba. Ajanku has traveled the African diaspora to study, teach, and
perform with many masters, and each trip has included fabric and fibers. Ajanku
believes that when presented properly, art is the perfect vehicle to move forward into
greater intercultural awareness for the global community.
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