‘More Beautiful Together’ Exhibition
Black History Month is a moment of reflection and celebration among the African Diaspora in the US and across the globe. This year, we decided to mark the occasion with an exhibition titled ‘More Beautiful Together’.
This gallery exhibition, featuring portraits by Nigerian-Dutch photographer Coco Olakunle, was organised to formally celebrate and introduce members of KinFolk, their unity, growth and the value of their contributions within this space.
KinFolk is a multinational, multicultural group of Black people representing the larger global African Diaspora, who have found their way to The Netherlands by way of Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam.
First and foremost, we are a family. Furthermore, we are a unified multinational, multicultural group that exists to uplift and hold space for the many faces of the African Diaspora. Our chief goal is to provide community, be a refuge and cultural safe haven for Black-identifying W+K Amsterdam employees existing and new.
Over the last year we’ve been growing and strengthening our connection. This year our aim is to make ourselves fully visible. Everyone should know our names, everyone should see our faces, everyone should celebrate our existence and contributions to this space.
April 7th, 2022 was our first KinFolk meeting ever.
Our hope is that this exhibition will underscore our group’s significance, its beauty, its plight and the ways in which we enrich the broader experience wherever we unite.
These portraits are not just headshots, they’re symbolic of our larger mission to continue to take up space and maintain W+K Amsterdam as a safe, inclusive space for generations of KinFolk to come.
We envisioned a studio photoshoot staging members of KinFolk as colorful flowers against a backdrop of lush green foliage.The color contrast between the two elements creates a deeper commentary around the existence and contributions of Black folk to homogeneous spaces.
Our hope is that this exhibition will underscore our group’s significance, its beauty, its plight and the ways in which we enrich the broader experience wherever we unite.
The photographer Coco Olakunle was selected to take these portraits. The former Kennedy, who frequently celebrates the beauty and diversity of young people in subcultures around the globe, was the perfect artist for the project.
We aim to honour our ever-growing presence and the influence of Black people in spaces where we’ve been historically underrepresented.
