Textiles, Colonial Legacies, and Transnational Narratives at the FHA25

On Tuesday, our colleagues Mariama de Brito Henn and Cécile Mendy gave a short presentation as part of Les Rencontres Internationales Étudiantes du FHA25, held at the Weltmuseum Vienna and organized in the framework of the Festival de l’Histoire de l’Art.

Their talk centered on a pair of Nigerian Sokoto trousers made with “African Lace,” offering both a historical and contemporary perspective on global textile connections between Austria and West Africa. They explored how colonial legacies continue to shape postcolonial aesthetics, and how textiles serve as powerful mediums for expressing national identities, collective memory, and transnational relationships.