Chinakwe Highlights and Achievements in 2021

No matter how big or small, your achievements are, they are impactful to your success and deserves to be acknowledged. Today is a time to celebrate yourself and enjoy how far you’ve come. All too often this side of review and self-evaluation gets missed. For every meaningful accomplishment in your life it is important to acknowledge those personal wins and take pride in those achievements. Success can come in many shapes and sizes, we just have a habit of not recognizing the smaller ones as such. To celebrate the end of 2021, we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and celebrate Chinakwe’s achievements… 
PS: Notice we didn't say "Small" or "Big" Achievements; to us, we appreciate every achievement (big or small).

At the  beginning of  the year,  Chinakwe  held a bold 3-day event titled ‘Colourism: The truth about skin tone bias’ from the 29th to 31st July. Hosted at the lively and multicultural Brixton Village at the Brixton Studios, the event was described as an ‘amazing success’. We saw over 100 guests with VIP attendees such as broadcaster Brenda Emmanus (OBE), Simon Bartholomew, lead guitarist and founding member of The Brand New Heavies, and actor Charles Venn. All eager to experience the meaning of afro-luxe lifestyle, art and fashion through the eyes and mind of Caroline Chinakwe - Mother of three, fashion enthusiast and small business owner.

The exhibition offered an insight into her cleverly crafted work, inviting everyone to come along, and take a look at Chinakwe’s exotic patterns, fearless colours and creative take on cultural influences. Pieces were showcased from the “Colourism”  and “This Is Me” collection, including a new edition to the Colourism collection, “Phenomenal Women.” Chinakwe’s classy, modern elegance was a learning experience for all.

Our first public exhibition and pop also bloomed conversations, about personal experiences on the topic 'Colourism' with a live talk that was hosted by Cyndi Handson. Bringing colour to this social issue the guest panellists featured; Caroline Chinakwe, Leigh Odimamah (UAL lecturer), Asiko (Artist and photographer) and Bebe Kiffin (Founder of apparel brand Black Love Love Black). Creating an unapologetic space for important discussions, in the design and wider community. Colourism: The truth about skin-tone bias, although unforgettable, this was the beginning of Chinakwe’s events and exhibitions.

 Following the success of Chinakwe’s first pop up exhibition, we had the opportunity to participate in the newly reprised exhibition titled, Some of Us Are Brave, that was brought to Newham as part of their Black History Month celebrations in October. The exhibition showcased the work of nine contemporary artists variously expressing ideas that explore the feminine, form, and function in art created by black women. Seeing what it means to be a woman and an artist at this time by touching on themes ranging from ecology to sexuality, family and myth-making. 

Caroline Chinakwe, was one of the exhibiting artists, alongside emerging artists; Sharon Adebisi, Helena Appio, Bokani, Simone Brewster, Hannah Uzor and Denise Williams. This event presented the chance to feel more involved in the Chinakwe experience filled with culture, colour, creativity and black excellence. In addition to displaying some of your favourite pieces by artist and designer Caroline Chinakwe such as; Unity, Spiritual, Natural, Let Go Colourism and I Can't Be Stung By You.

Link to watch the talk - https://youtu.be/kH78uHe8F6c 

Some Of Us Are Brave - the exhibition - was intended to open conversations about how art can provoke, inspire and transform our thinking on a range of issues from artistic language to representation and climate emergency. Caroline Chinakwe was also in conversation with curator, Sukai Eccleston, discussing her new art collection “Colourism”  and explaining why this is such a poignant and sensitive subject for Black women and people of colour. Caroline highlighted how she used her art to illuminate the nuances of deeply embedded discrimination, whilst reconstructing oppressive societal rhetorics. Not only did this talk disempower perceived hierarchy, but it cultivated appreciation and respect for individuality and the variation in our skin colour.

The conversation around this topic is far from over. Chinakwe hopes that we can open our ears and our eyes to these artworks, plant them in our minds and make them grow. Through Caroline’s practice, Chinakwe intends to eradicate the rotten roots of colourism and racism and allow a new flower of hope and equality to bloom.

The end of October saw Chinakwe take part in its first solo residency. To mark the celebration of The Curtain Club’s recent reopening at the new Mondrian hotel in Shoreditch, the club announced Caroline Chinakwe as their first artist in residence in collaboration with Gone Rogue.  We had the amazing opportunity to exhibit Chinakwe’s,  colourful, powerful and unapologetic visuals that capture the beauty found in black culture and style. A perfect experience to be The Curtain Club’s artist in residence and cultural events programme. The events vibe was truly electric, everyone that came, came with such good spirits and support. In the 8-week pop-up gallery, 22 pieces were featured including new works and pieces from Chinakwe’s “Colourism” (2021) and “This Is Me” (2020) collection. Working with a leading lifestyle brand such as The Mondrian hotel, provided a step in the right direction to showcase Chinakwe's beautiful and impactful selection of artwork that empower people of colour and address social issues that affect the community.

To round off the year, Chinakwe was part of the pop up shop with the group at Camden Black Creatives (CBC) @camdenblackcreatives . Founded by Caroline Chinakwe and  a group of 3 women who embarked on a project to champion the representation of black artists, freelance and business. On Tuesday 19th of October, the doors to the pop up opened in the heart of Hampstead. The shop rebranded to ‘Omenka’ which is of Igbo origin and means "Craftsman or Technologist". The shop successfully brought diversity to Hampstead, presenting businesses, art, fashion and homeware products that reflected the diversity and creativity of Camden. 

All the achievements we have listed could not have been possible without the love and support from all of our customers and followers at Chinakwe. We want to say a big thank you for allowing us to achieve some incredible milestones this year. Bring on 2022, who knows what the future has for us!