WAX PRINT | 20th ImageNation Outdoors Film Festival

ImageNation Cinema Foundation is a Harlem-based media arts group, founded with the goal of establishing a chain of art-house cinemas, dedicated to progressive media by and about people of color. Through a variety of exhibitions and programs, ImageNation edifies its audience. We foster media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange and highlight the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide.

ImageNation

Join us for an artist talk followed by the film WAX PRINT which examines how one fabric came to symbolize the struggle of a continent.

Outdoors in the Street, Block Party Style

From village to cotton field, from mill to market, the story of how one fabric came to symbolize the struggle of a continent and its people. The film will be preceded by &quot;What Is African Design&quot; a conversation with Harlem Needle Arts founder Michelle Bishop, featuring Moctar Yara, Owner, Yara African Fabrics, LLC; Oluwaseyi Awoyomi textile artist and protege of Chief Nike Okundaye and the late Twins Seven Seven. This ImageNation x FDBA program is co-presented with Harlem Needle Arts.ABOUT THE PANELISTSMoctar Yara, (Mali) - Moctar Yara the proud owner of Yara African Fabrics, LLC started this business more than fifteen years ago. Yara Fabrics has since grown into a wholesale supplier with a warehousing facility in New York.Moctar is a Native from Mali and came to New York in January 1992. With his experience of selling textiles in his village, back at home Djema, Mali, he easily fell right into the line of fabric and jewelry as a vendor along Harlem’s iconic 125th Street. The small business gradually turned into a growing neighborhood staple, which launched the opening of his first retail Harlem storefront in 1999.Moctar’s business attracts textile lovers and buyers from various industries including home décor, fashion/designers, and craft enthusiasts. With the supply of vibrant colors, versatile patterns, Ankara prints and authentic African textiles, Moctar is a respected businessperson suppling not only New York but companies around the world. While the Harlem location is now closed, Moctar continues to operate Yara African Fabrics in the Bronx, New York.Oluwaseyi Awoyomi (Nigeria) - Oluwaseyi Awoyomi was born into the art of Adire and trained by world-renowned artists Chief Nike Okundaye and the late Twins Seven Seven. Affectionately known as Shayee, she shares the Yoruba art, history, meaning and process of Adire through techniques which include Adire Alabela (wax resist- Batik), Adire Oniko (tie and dye), Adire Albere (stitching resist), hand embroidery, traditional weaving on loom, and reverse applique.M﻿ichelle Bishop, Executive Director, Harlem Needle Arts - Michelle Bishop is the Founder and Executive Director of Harlem Needle Arts (HNA), an arts and cultural organization at the forefront of revolutionizing, preserving, and expanding the narrative of fiber, textile, design, and needle arts in the African Diaspora. Through exhibitions, education, technical support, economic development, and other tools, HNA creates platforms for the inclusion of the art forms on the stages of museums, galleries and publications.After a successful career, fusing her IT and special events/fundraising expertise, Michelle formed HNA to represent and transform the narrative of textile art to respect history, tradition and culture but also represent the contemporary influences of the art forms to fuel the ever-expanding scope of the fiber constructionists. Focusing on the textile mediums of quilting, felting, knitting, crochet, batik, Adire, botanical print, weaving, spinning, embroidery, collage, illustration, beading, and fiber fusion, HNA is committed to sharing the histories and traditions from the African diaspora to foster growth amongst working artists, youth, and adults in the Harlem community and beyond. Michelle’s holds a BBA in Management Information Systems from Pace University and a Certificate in Community E-Institute from Cornell University.

ABOUT IMAGENATIONLed by Moikgantsi Kgama (Founder &amp; Executive Director) and Gregory Gates (Executive Producer), ImageNation has hosted film screenings, live music performances and other cultural events for more than 150,000 people worldwide since its inception in New York City in 1997. In addition to hosting year-round programs at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the world-famous Apollo Theater, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and in New York City Parks, ImageNation has presented internationally in South Africa, Scotland and Canada and domestically at Harvard University, MASS MOCA, and in Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Baltimore, MD and Washington DC. Programs have featured appearances by leading filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Lee Daniels, Stanley Nelson and Ava Duvernay.

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WAX PRINT | 20th ImageNation Outdoors Film Festival

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WAX PRINT | 20th ImageNation Outdoors Film Festival

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