Grow it, Show it! – From 13 September, a major photography exhibition at Museum Folkwang highlights the cultural significance of hairstyles

From 13 September 2024 to 12 January 2025, Museum Folkwang is presenting the exhibition Grow It, Show It! A look at hair from Diane Arbus to TikTok. The show highlights the role of hairstyles in society, politics and everyday life through a wide selection of historical and contemporary photographs, videos and film clips from art, fashion and social media. From iconic works such as J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere's documentation of Nigerian hairstyles to the work of artist and fashion photographer Suffo Moncloa for Gucci, the overview exhibition shows that hair is far more than just a fashion accessory. It is an expression of our identity, a means of communication and a social statement.

From photographers such as Helmut Newton or Chaumont-Zaerpour, who stage hairstyles not just as fashion accessories but as a central design element, to artists such as Hoda Afshar, Thandiwe Muriu or Maria Tomanova, who depict hair as a means of resistance and emancipation: Grow It, Show It! shows that hair images are not only the subject of the cosmetics industry, but also of queer-feminist, body-political and postcolonial discourses. At the same time, the comprehensive themed exhibition explores how images of hair have consolidated and defined trends over time and the central role played by the history of photography and current social media formats such as tutorials and ASMR videos.

Firmly anchored in the photographic canon is the large-scale series of works by J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, who systematically documented the sculptural forms of Nigerian women's hairstyles in over a thousand photographs from the 1960s onwards. To this day, his work continues to influence a young generation of artists, as can be seen in the NFTs of the Yatreda Art Collective. They combine the new, such as blockchain technology, with the old by preserving historical narratives and cultural traditions and paying homage to the richness of Ethiopian culture through the art of hair with their 360-degree portraits.  

The photographic works by Samuel Fosso, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Herlinde Koelbl, August Sander and rarely shown collections by David Hill and Robert Adamson, dating from around 1845, focus on social status and representation. They explore the question of the power-political and hierarchising dimensions of hair in social portraits. In their work, the artists Bubu Ogisi, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Laura Aguilar and Tunga explore the symbolism of hair in spirituality, ritual and performance.

Through the associative linking of different times, contexts, themes and photographic media, Grow It, Show It! tells a variety of hair stories across 1,400 square metres of exhibition space and constantly interweaves them anew in an open, multimedia spatial staging.

Featuring works by:
Hoda Afshar, Laura Aguilar, Diane Arbus, Ellen Auerbach, AWA Magazine, BALAM, Jürgen Baldiga, Barber Turko, Carina Brandes, BRAVO, Nakeya Brown, Tessica Brown, Julia Margaret Cameron, Jim Carrey, Chaumont–Zaerpour, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Rineke Dijkstra, Juan Pablo Echeverri, Anna Ehrenstein, Lotte Errell, Jason Evans, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Samuel Fosso, Pippa Garner, André Gelpke, Weronika Gęsicka, Camilo Godoy, Nan Goldin, Ulrich Görlich, Henriette Grindat, Carola von Groddeck, F. C. Gundlach, Johann Hinrich W. Hamann, Mona Hatoum, Florence Henri, Florian Hetz, David O. Hill & Robert Adamson, Thomas Hoepker, Ewald Hoinkis, Peter Hujar, Graciela Iturbide, Lebohang Kganye, Jens Klein, Peter Knapp, Herlinde Koelbl, Paul Kooiker, Anouk Kruithof, Andreas Langfeld, Alwin Lay, Zoe Leonard, Madame d’Ora, Mahmoud Manaa, Ana Mendieta, Sabelo Mlangeni, Suffo Moncloa, Marge Monko, Thandiwe Muriu, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Helmut Newton, Satomi Nihongi, Nicholas Nixon, Fred Odede, Bubu Ogisi, Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, , Ulrike Ottinger, Helga Paris, Doris Quarella, Alfred A. Rau, Eugene Richards, ringl + pit, Roxana Rios, Torbjørn Rødland, Thomas Ruff, RuPaul, August Sander, Viviane Sassen, Max Scheler, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Lorna Simpson, Annegret Soltau, John Stezaker, Tabboo!, Juergen Teller, Hank Willis Thomas, Wolfgang Tillmans, Marie Tomanova, Tunga, Danielle Udogaranya, Dorothea von der Osten, William Wegman, Tom Wood, Yatreda, Leyla Yenirce, Sheung Yiu

A richly illustrated publication on the exhibition Grow It, Show It! will be launched by DISTANZ Verlag. It will also be accompanied by an extensive programme of events.

The exhibition is supported by E.ON.