Ella Broek
Fashion Anthropologist

CONTACT:

ellabroek[@]
yahoo.com

The Affective Potential of the Koto

Central to this research is the kotomisi, a woman dressed in Afro-Surinamese costume, of which the koto (the name of the skirt as well as the entire costume) and angisa (folded headgear) are important parts. It considers, for example, the weight of an angisa folded with three cloths or the skid resistance of a starched skirt by asking:
How do kotomisi experience the wearing of the koto and the angisa and how do these experiences influence the construction of subjectivity? And how are design and manufacturing processes of the koto involved in this construction?
In wanting to learn from this tradition, rather than simply recording it, a major element of my research is aimed at supplementing current museum collections with new information geared towards making tangible connections between the objects (the kotos) and the people who make, carry, collect and cherish them. Through this, I hope to arrive at a well-contextualised heritage collection surrounding the satorial and cultural relevance of traditional dress to the Dutch-Surinamese community.

This project is supported by