Shot in the vibrant heart of Salvador, Brazil, during Afro Fashion Day, Mother Africa: A Hairstory in Three Acts is a striking editorial that honors the enduring presence and transformative power of African identity told through the language of hair, fashion, and spirit.
As an Afrofuturist, Val Juma is drawn to the dynamic space where heritage meets imagination. Inspired by the theme Mother Africa, the concept unfolds in three distinct visual chapters: Royalty, Ethnicity, and Futurism. Each look was intentionally crafted, centering intricate African hairstyles and sculptural garments that bridge ancestral tradition with visionary design.
The women featured are more than models they are vessels of legacy. Their hair tells generational stories: braided crowns, sculpted coils, and wrapped buns act as living records of culture and identity. The fashion they wear is not ornamental, but declarative expressions that collapse time, merging memory and modernity into a single silhouette.
Afro Fashion Day, held annually in November, is a culturally significant event that coincides with Black Consciousness Month in Brazil. It commemorates the legacy of Zumbi dos Palmares and serves as a vibrant affirmation of African heritage within the diaspora. For Juma, this shoot became more than a creative endeavor , it was a spiritual reckoning. After traveling through eleven African nations, it was in Brazil that she felt something shift. “The African spirit is alive there,” she reflects. “The rituals, the hairstyles, the energy it was familiar, but amplified.”
Mother Africa is both a celebration and a meditation a “hairstory” that connects continents, generations, and futures. It is rooted in where we’ve come from, anchored in who we are, and visionary about where we might go next.
Photography and Creative Direction by Val Juma
