T
alking about the cre-
ative insight to the
editorial Asiko says
“The images explore
female archetypes in
pre-colonial Africa.
The editorial images were inspired
by women’s roles and traditions
and interpreted into a contemporary
fashion aesthetic.
There is a common belief that
African societies oppress women
but this wasn’t always the case in
the past. The women in ancient
African societies held significant
positions of power and weaved the
fabric of communities in unity. You
can even go as far as to say some
African societies are predominantly
matriarchal. Matriarchy in ancient
Africa was not a mirror image of
patriarchy today; because, it was
not based on appropriation and
violence. The rituals and culture of
African matriarchy did not cele-
brate violence; rather, they pro-
moted prolificacy, exchange and
redistribution. The African way
of life was subverted by colonial
patriarchal societies and caused a
shift in cultural structure.
Some of these examples of arche-
types are the female warriors of
Dahomey who were an all women
military regiment in the kingdom
of Dahomey now known as pres-
ent day Republic of Benin. These
women were fierce and bear simi-
larities to semi-mythical Amazons.
In Yoruba culture in Nigeria the
27 I Blanck Lite I April 01 2017 I www.blanckdigital.com
Iyalode had a more prominent role
and had the ear of the ruler the
Alafin of the land. She was a cham-
pion for women’s issue which were
brought to political and govern-
ment meetings.
In Sierra Leone in the regions of
Mende and Shebro, women held
the positions of heads of state and
regions, an example of such of
a prominent woman is Madame
Yoko.
In the shoot we focused on some
these archetype roles; the matri-
arch, the warrior, the spiritualist,
the ruler and leader.