IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTION, TATE MODERN

WHEN WE WERE QUEENS AND KINGS |2017
Screenprint on cotton and cotton-jacquard, hand stitched |841cm X 330cm

WHEN WE WERE QUEENS AND KINGS

NOW ON VIEW IN TATE MODERN

..until March 2023

Bankside, London

Devoted to the work of unpacking interconnectedness, highlighted at the intersection of trade and textile, Zohra Opoku’s ongoing series WHO IS WEARING MY T-SHIRT, explores the fraught relation between the Second Hand Imports to Sub-Saharan Africa, the modern African textile industry and traditional African attire. Through this work, she conjures our nostalgic longing for a fading heritage. As memory stands at the heart of all memorialisation, Opoku employs both representational and abstract forms of monument to honour our ancestry and individuality.

“Through referencing the myriad ways individual style and dress are closely linked to cultural displays of pride, social and economic status, I used Second Hand garments in the photo (The T-Shirt carpet) and screen printed on used imported fabrics (table cloth and bed sheets) which addresses broader questions of what roles custom dress plays in politics, globalisation, and commerce.” - Zohra Opoku