In 2012 I lead a collaborative project with Thiossane, Columbus Children’s Theatre, Columbus Children’s Choir and Thurber House called 'The Kente Project,' a celebration of west African storytelling. This project is named for the African cloth, kente, an icon of African cultural heritage around the world, identified by its multicolored, woven patterns of geometric shapes and bold designs. Similarly, this project is a weaving together of the diverse skills and artistic disciplines of each of the groups. This project was a year and a half in the making. Within the project, I designed animal headpieces for the story “Why Mosquitos Buzz in your Ear.” Suzan Kounta took my sketches to West Africa and scoured the markets for fabrics for the costumes. Seeing the “masks” and costumes together was amazing.
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Suzanne Accetta AWS, TWSA
