Alix Bizet is a social designer who uses materials to explore different aspects of communities. For the Hairytage project Alix focuses on the cultural significance of hair in the local community. Alix started the research exploring the cultural and social significance of Afro-Caribbean hair salons in the local community of Peckham. The Hairytage film, which can be viewed below, show the deeply entwined nature of these hair salons with the local community.
Hair became the material metaphor for the project, we collected hair from the staff and students in school as well as the local hairdressers. This collection of hair from the community formed the thread that stitched the project together, both metaphorically and literally. The image below is the hair that we collected woven together to create the thread that would be used throughout the project to document the thoughts that emerged from the various creative exchanges.
Alongside the various workshops an archive was created document the conversations. These thoughts were written onto a fabric, which were then stitched using the hairy thread.
Further Hair and Identity Explorations