Kibibi Ajanku – Fiber Artist

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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.