PERE
String art on board
81.28 cm by 60.96 cm
2020
Statement
Pere is an ijaw word for royalty. It is also a title reserved for the highest traditional ruler in ijaw land.
Pere is a name. It can also be used as a prefix and suffix to a name.
Pere , a title reserved for king, is also a name that can be borne by a commoner. It's a reflection of the belief that everyone regardless of birth, gender and class is royalty.
The African woman is PERE.
She weaves her own crown and dons her garment designed with beads and embroidery fit for the royalty that she is.
She doesn't wait to be handed powers, she takes it with both her hands. Doing what needs to be done to set her courtyard in order.
She doesn't need your permission.
She doesn't need your approval.
She is Royalty, she is King, she is PERE.
Tammy SinclairSinclair’s work is centred around black identity. “With my art I speak on our hopes, our strength and our beauty as a people, it is also a means to rewrite the black narrative, retell black history, and highlight our need for unity. The fragility of a single thread points at our weakness when we chose to stand alone. The layering of thread on thread almost seems to wax an impenetrable fortress which points at our strength if we all stand together”. Like the African proverb that says, “The strength of the broom lies not in the power of a single frond but in the resilience of its united fronds.”