A weaving of cultural memory
- Zainab creates contemporary works informed by ancestral traditions
- Her pieces incorporate rhythm in terms of process and inspiration
- She uses basketry techniques of twining, coiling and weaving
Born in Sierra Leone and educated in London and Paris, Zainab Sumu’s path as an artist has not been linear. A degree in fashion from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and later studies in basketweaving were touchpoints along the path to becoming the artisan she is today. “I feel like I was summoned to do this because this world found me at the right time,” she says. Zainab favours traditional materials gathered in North and West Africa to craft her contemporary pieces. Her process taps into the concept of ancestral knowing. “I see myself as a vessel making the works that come to me. I am just enjoying the process,” she says. Zainab’s practice spans textile design, sculptural basketry and sculptural paintings in pieces that convey cultural memory and the poetry of materials.
INTERVIEW
It is a container of feminine power. It is very much considered the woman's domain, as it is where she keeps her most treasured possessions, what she uses to cook and how she feeds her family. For me, it is an archive of ancestral memory. It is about beauty, care, transformation and resilience.
They hold memory and carry history informed by multiple artistic languages. The pieces informed by Gnawa music, a trance-inducing rhythm from Morocco and Algeria, reflect how sound moves through space. If you pause and look at the pieces, you connect to those subtle movements.
Natural fibres hold history, making them a continuum of the land in conversation with the body. There is also a spiritual memory held within them. I call the fibres my collaborators. They allow my pieces to become forms steeped in spirituality and ritual.
There is a sacred intelligence of the hand. I am continuing this work because of all the craftspeople and makers that came before me. I feel that I somehow remember how to do these crafts, and am summoned to create these pieces.
