KENT, OH.- The Kent State University Museum presents its fall exhibition, “A Meeting of Cultures: Fashioning North Africa,” from Sept. 5, 2025, through May 10, 2026. Displayed in the museum’s Broadbent Gallery, the exhibition features works by 25 contemporary North African designers and artists, including more than 40 ensembles and accessories alongside photography by fashion photographers, journalists and social media influencers, as well as art installations and videos.
“The Kent State University Museum is dedicated to inquiry, research and discovery,” said Kent State University Museum Director Sarah Spinner Liska, Ph.D., J.D. “Exhibitions like ‘A Meeting of Cultures’ reflect our commitment to sharing new perspectives, advancing scholarship and fostering dialogue on campus and in the wider community.”
Kent State University Museum Curator Sara Hume, Ph.D., stated, “This exhibition represents the second in a series presented by the Kent State University Museum on fashion on the African continent. Rather than pack the tremendous diversity of African fashion into a single exhibition, we have developed exhibitions looking at smaller regions. In this way, we counter the mistaken notion that Africa is a single monolith. In 2016, we began the series with ‘Fashions of Southern Africa,’ which featured looks from South Africa and Namibia.”
“A Meeting of Cultures: Fashioning North Africa” reflects the museum’s mission to advance the understanding of world cultures through the lens of fashions and textiles. The exhibition is organized around three themes: Disruptors, Threads and Our Land, which each bring together the work of designers from different countries and draw out the myriad approaches to retaining cultural distinctiveness while adapting to contemporary concerns.
“Disruptors” looks at how brands such as Boauna and Born in Exile present streetwear styles that break from older conventions and traditions. “Threads” focuses on the materials and techniques that designers use – both raw materials cultivated in the region as well as techniques and craftsmanship passed down across generations. The final section, “Our Land,” looks at the ways that artists and designers have drawn inspiration from the architecture and landscape of the region. For instance, both Anissa Meddeb of Anissa Aida and Samia Ben Abdallah of AwA received training in architecture before switching to fashion, and their structural designs reflect this background.
This exhibition is co-curated by Hume and Nada Koreish, a lecturer across multiple disciplines with over 15 years of experience in the design industry and a doctoral scholar, focusing on decoloniality and fashion in North Africa. A 150-page catalogue will be published and distributed internationally by Hirmer Verlag.
The exhibition will be open to the public Sept. 5, 2025, through May 10, 2026. A public opening reception will be held at 5 p.m. on Sept. 4 and feature a conversation between Hume and designer Hisham Oumlil. This exhibition is generously sponsored by Linda Harper, the Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation and DutchCultureUSA, a program of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States. The Kent State University Museum receives operating support through a sustainability grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
