****AFRIFUTURI 02022020 BOOK + CAMO COAT COLLECTION LAUNCH****

We’ve been waiting for it and now it’s finally here! The Camo Coat Collection and my monograph AFRIFUTURI 02022020 officially launch on 02.02.2020, the mystical numerological portal connected to my ongoing creative and spiritual relationship with the number “8.”

Event Tickets to RSVP

Get your ticket now to RSVP for the launch on Sunday, February 2, 2020.

Doors close and runway begins at 2:00 p.m. All attendees must be seated by start time. Purchase tickets ahead of time to ensure attendance and plan to arrive before 1:30 p.m. to be seated in time for the show's start.

Blanc Gallery, 4445 South King Drive, Chicago in historic Bronzeville!

Buy a ticket now to hold your spot for this dynamic runway show which will feature: eight stunning models including Chicago- and New York-based artists/performers/scholars (Empress Darling Shear; Pamela Sneed; Shelby Stone; Ifeoma Nkemdi; Emeka Ekwelum; Jackie McFarland; Chelsea Frazier, Tonika Johnson) wearing original capsule collection garments by Denenge Design with selected accessories by featured artists including Morris Fox; music mix by DJ Sadie Woods including excerpts from Denenge's Corpus Meum installation (Arts Club of Chicago) and Rapunzel Revisited soundscapes (MCA Chicago); video of the Original Camo Coat in motion by Jonathan Woods; post-show conversation with eco-critic Dr. Chelsea Frazier of Ask An Amazon; and AFRIFUTURI 02022020 monograph book signing.

Please note:

-Two tickets max per order. Seating is first come, first served! Purchasing a ticket ahead of time is strongly encouraged to make sure you have a seat in the gallery area, along with early arrival suggested. Reserved seating is available under specific circumstances; please contact me with any questions and I'll do my best to accommodate. Tickets are non-transferrable; attendee and ticket name must match.

-Children: Please note that the launch is a professional event with specific choreography throughout the gallery interior and exterior; thus, unfortunately, we cannot accommodate children under the age of 10. Children in attendance must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Thanks so much for your understanding!

-Accessibility: Blanc Gallery is wheelchair accessible from the sidewalk which leads up a small hill to the front door from street level. Doors do not have an automatic button. There will be two attendants at door for tickets who can assist with opening door and helping with access for anyone who needs it. I'm happy to provide more specific information including photo of entrance. For wheelchair van drop-off, you can drive to front entrance and set lift down level in front of door. Sidewalk is standard width approx. 36" wide which drops down 4" to driveway. There isn't a lot of room to turn from sidewalk into doorway, but it's doable depending on size of wheelchair. If you would like assistance including from street level up sidewalk to entrance, please email me at dakpem@saic.edu with your phone number and I will have the attendants contact you with their info so they can be ready when you arrive. They will also be right at the front door and on the look-out to assist.

Book Pre-Orders

AFRIFUTURI 02022020 monograph copies each with original custom hologram details (in collaboration with C. Alex Clark) will be available at the launch ($44). To reserve your copy ahead of time, select the monograph add-on here at Eventbrite check-out when purchasing your ticket. (Print-on-demand copies will be available via Lulu.com.

Limited Edition Velvet Box Copies

For libraries, collectors, and special collections interested in one of the eight limited edition boxed copies, please contact me directly via email for further details.

Learn More!

The capsule collection launches with my new (first) book on Afro-Futurism in the form of an artist’s monograph highlighting eight archetypal performance/costumes and eight selected writings on design, performance, costume, space, and ecologies representing a slice of my artistic contributions over the past 15 years in this field. The Osanyin Commemorative Portrait Series and The Camo Coat Collection are conceptual and applied Afro-Futurism projects begun in 2014 when I was an NEH Fellow for the Institute on Black Aesthetics and Sacred Systems. The collection is focused on protection—logistical and spiritual—in the urban landscape, inspired by Osanyin, the Yoruba orisa of healing, leaves, and the wisdom of nature, and referencing dazzle camouflage, its striped pattern bearing similarities to Tiv a'nger traditional textile from Nigeria; healing and thriving through ritual performance; and Afro-Futurist design practice in action. Many of the amazing cohort of scholars and practitioners are featured in the portrait series taken around Emory University campus at locations chosen by each person in a collaborative photographic process, collectively commemorating the historic convening. A series of leaf drawings I created during that fellowship have become the foundation of wall and textile prints used in the capsule collection along with Chicago-specific camo, tartan, and the Original Camo coat in class Woodland pattern.

For expanded details on this project, please visit www.denenge.net/camo-coat.