Latest update January 21st, 2025 5:15 AM
Latest News
- ‘Govt doesn’t need independent advice to renegotiate ExxonM contract’
- ‘Chokehold of oil on Guyana’s economy spells trouble for country’s climbing debt’- Former Finance Minister
- Rescuers find dozens of bodies in Gaza rubble amid Israel-Hamas ceasefire
- Trump returns to power
- GGMC allays concerns over safe with seized gold, diamonds
Turning heads: African head wraps go on show today
African head wraps are both intriguing and stunning and today you will get a chance to see just that when the African Cultural and Development Association hosts its Emancipation Day festival at the National Park.
In Guyana, the elaborate head wraps are sometimes seen at weddings, funerals or some other special occasion. But perhaps like no other day, August 1 is when the ladies choose to go all out in African fashion.
Volda Quallis wears a Nigerian head-wrap synonymous with a celebration.
Far from being used for functional reasons (such as hiding hair loss), in Guyana wearing an African head piece is about the style and about the statement you want to make.
And you can get a head wrap to match almost any colour and fabric you choose to wear. But just a word of caution: they are expensive!
If you want to get the best design, something that really stands out, we suggest you find “Lilies in the Valley Arts and Craft Creation.” Long name, yes, but fabulous designs.
In the booth today at the National Park, you may find Volda Quallis. From Long Creek on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, she specialises in West African head wraps.
Quallis says that wraps are made according to the occasion, since the different designs carry meanings.
She has been designing head wraps for the past ten years and draws her influence from the Africans of Suriname, where she spent some years living. Her forte is particularly Ghanaian and Nigerian and her fabric is specially imported at this time of the year.
Sadly, though, it was hard to find someone making head wraps for men. Maybe there will be someone at the National Park today.
Research shows that head wraps have served as a head cover for Africans, mostly women, since at least the early 1700s.
According to Danya London Fashions for All, a group of African slave women appear in a 1707 painting that was created by Dirk Valkenburg, a Danish painter, that depicted them wearing head wraps that appeared high on the forehead and above the ears.
However, it is believed that African cultures used head wraps before the days of slavery so that men could show off their wealth and the level of their social status and so that women could prove that they were prosperous and spiritual.
A cultural significance of the African head wrap is that African women typically secure the wrap using a knot at the base of the crown which leaves the neck and forehead exposed.
Part of the reason for this is to make the facial features appear striking so that anyone that wishes to look upon an African woman would look up at her face rather than down at her body.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
How do you analyse a Budget?
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- What if in tabling the 2025 Budget, the Minister with responsibility for Finance did... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
