Dandara Maia

Exhibitions & Projects
  1. YES WE CAN - ARTE Premiere  
  2. Linden-Museum Digital 
  3. Floating Assemblies
  4. Not Yet
  5. Osun on the moon
  6. WAXATLAS Exhibition
  7. Mapping Ankara

Publications 

About


I am a transdisciplinary researcher and curator, navigating the intersections of material culture, visual anthropology, and fashion studies. My doctoral research at the University of Bayreuth's Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence critically examines the cultural narratives embedded in wax print textiles, focusing on their materiality and African identity. Operating between Brazil and Nigeria, I investigate how these hybrid fabrics serve as carriers of Africanness despite their colonial history. I engage with identity, decoloniality, and the tensions between the modernity framework in the postcolonial contexts of Nigeria and Brazil. With a foundation in fashion design and visual arts, my work at the Iwalewahaus Museum and in curatorial practice seeks to challenge and reframe the discourse surrounding African material culture, contributing to dialogues on decolonization and critical fashion theory.

As an Afro-Brazilian, I grew up in Rio and relocated to Germany in 2019, where I am based today, to pursue my academic career. Apart from being a researcher and curator, I am the mother of little Vicente.

Ulm, Germany

CV
Contact
dandara.maia[at]uni-bayreuth.de
danda.rrra
dandaramaia

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Not Yet



Iwalewahaus 2023


Curatorial team

We invited curator Beatrace Oongula for a conversation in the context of the exhibition. 

Play to watch Not Yet was a commemorative exhibition of the 40 years of the Iwalewahaus Museum. The collective curation engaged critically with multiple aspects of the collection. The textile collection at Iwalewahaus holds around 700 items. Despite the impressive number, only a few exhibitions were dedicated exclusively to textiles and fashion. 

This part of the exhibition questioned the invisibility as well as methods of collecting textiles from the continent. It juxtaposed works signed by Nike Olaniyi-Davies, Sangodare, and anonymized artists to discuss the modernity gaze separating art from craft. 
Some of these works were presented to the public for the first time.   










Photos: Dandara Maia