Akilah Watts
Akilah works with a number of media including drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture as well as high and low relief paintings.
Some of her works deal with pop culture and cultural exchange as well as Barbadian folklore and traditions through ideas of play and souvenirs. Watts’ new works touch on issues such as race, culture as well as ideas of belonging and beauty.
THE PROJECT
Born in Benin in 2018, Culte of Culture is an artistic project rooted in the analysis of a culture that has been stereotyped by most of us for too long: Voodoo.
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Its ambition is to spread through its collections a message of hope to all those who in their lives and existence feel oppressed by a system or a minority.
OUR VALUES
Our impact in the first place is ideological. Our creations have an essential objective to embody the values of Voodoo, including respect for nature, love and tolerance towards our fellows.
Our work should therefore not be considered as ordinary fashion accessories, but rather as specific and timeless markers of humanity.
Moreover, our impact is intended to be economic. By employing local craftsmen, we promote small and medium-sized enterprises and social entrepreneurship. In this way we contribute to their development and to the gross domestic product of Benin.
INTRODUCTION
The voodoo cult has its origins in the five elements: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Soul. Therefore, it honors the earth with a cult dedicated to the divinity sakpata. Inside this cult, there is a particularly great interest and respect for our common good, the Earth, our producer of resources. The result is a variety of therapeutic knowledge that continues to heal and be a source of blossoming for its followers.
Through this collection, the initials Sakpata Vi want to defend the values of freedom, equality and tolerance.
LOGO
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Because ethnic and social stereotypes have convinced us that there are races among humans, our message with this LOGO is that every human should find the strength to live and exist in freedom. There is no justice without equality for all individuals. We are all red-blooded, we all have the Earth as our support, we are all SAKPATA VI.
Sakpata vi in Fon-gbe, or "child of the earth" in English.
DESIGN
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Beyond the values transmitted by this collection, the pieces have been designed with inspiration from the work clothes attributed to the workers.
They must be considered, more than simple fashion accessories, as symbols of membership in a climate of justice, equality and tolerance thinking.
Therefore, future purchasers of this collection must consider themselves as active ambassadors of the values of voodoo .
SHOOTING CAMPAIGN
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Voodoo adopts a singular notion of time. It is good to know that one day in the spirit world is equivalent to a thousand years on earth.
To present this spiritual collection, we have chosen different models from the point of view of their physique, in order to highlight through many images their human resemblances: their hopes, their struggles, their lives.
A PROOF OF EXISTENCE.
In this way, not the esthetic aspect of the images is highlighted, but rather the originality, life and energy of their hopes.
With this collection we wish to abolish the ethnic and social borders that we carry around in our heads, but also the gender borders that focus on the biological differences between men and women.
We wish to share with you our wishes for energy, love, hope and tolerance.
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Contact @culte_of_culture for purchase inqueries.