INhairITANCE

4 days ago
2 min read

Location: AFTS Gallery, 1500 Main Street, Springfield MA FL 2

Exhibition Dates: March 1, 2026- May 17, 2026

Artists: Sonya Clark, Jayoung Yoon, Louise Laplante, Nirmal Raja, Funlola Coker, Veronica Perez

AFTS Gallery is pleased to present INhairITANCE, a group exhibition that expands the global conversation around hair—not with a single narrative but instead offering a layered, collaborative exploration of personal adornment as it intersects with belief systems, gender, colonial histories, and cultural resistance.

INhairITANCE invites viewers to consider hair not merely as an aesthetic choice, but as a living archive—one shaped by ancestry, survival, ritual, power, and self-definition. Through a range of contemporary works, the exhibition examines how hair functions as both an intimate marker of identity and a public site of regulation, projection, and meaning.

“Hair, in some way, shape, or form, affects all of us,” says Gallery Manager Christina White. “It is deeply tied to how we see ourselves, how we present ourselves to the world, and how we are culturally perceived. This exhibition was important to me because it opens up space for hair as a shared experience across communities. One that carries memory, tension, pride, and resistance. By bringing together artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, INhairITANCE becomes a collaborative space rather than a singular story.”

“INhairITANCE is asking viewers to sit with complexity,” says Sierra Myers, Executive Director at AFTS Gallery. “Hair carries meaning that is personal, political, spiritual, and historical all at once. This exhibition resists simplification and instead invites reflection on how adornment becomes a conversation. The works presented here challenge us to think about what we inherit, what we reject, and what we choose to carry.”

Through this exhibition, AFTS Gallery continues its commitment to presenting work that fosters critical dialogue while remaining deeply rooted in community experience. Inheritance is not intended to offer conclusions, but rather to open space—for conversation, recognition, and shared understanding.