Dazed #279

Dazed Autumn 2022

“Every image tells a story. From culture to costume, dress codes to hairstyles and the nationalism we brush off as normal, symbols of shared heritage hold the power to shape the way we interpret ourselves. They tell stories of conquest and subjugation, power and resistance. When re-evaluated, they allow us to critically confront the past and our struggles for social justice, whether it’s destigmatising afro hair in professional spaces via UK campaign group the Halo Collective, or artist Hew Locke’s unpacking of Britain’s problematic past through thought-provoking portraiture.

In our digital-first, image-obsessed present, it seems there are reclamations of heritage happening everywhere, every day, and at a faster and more frantic pace than ever. Symbols that were previously used to wield power over people are rehashed to assert some semblance of control over the present – and nowhere is this more prevalent than on an extremely grassroots level. Here, we head to Bolivia, Jamaica and Turkey, where local groups are reclaiming their histories in groundbreaking ways, taking matters into their own hands both online and off.”