Wax: fashion and culture meet in Musée de l'Homme exhibition

Do you know wax? Perhaps not by name. But you've probably already admired these colorful fabrics with their geometric patterns, often associated with African fashion.

The Musée de l'Homme honors this fabric, revealing its history and hidden symbolism in a major exhibition on view from February 5 to September 7, 2025. The exhibition Wax, between heritage and reappropriation, blends the views of artists, couturiers, anthropologists, art historians and designers to create a fascinating and educational journey.

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Very popular these days in the West, wax has long been associated with Africa, and more particularlyWest Africa, where the fabric is widely used for everyday clothing. Yet wax actually has its origins in Indonesia. Dutch settlers and merchants brought Indonesian fabrics to West Africa, where they were quickly appropriated and adapted.

Europeans profited from this new industrial and commercial vein until the end of the colonial period, when African companies regained control of the market. The exhibition spotlights the Nanas Benz, women from Togo who made a fortune from the wax trade in the 1960s. Today, wax has become a global commodity, and the quality of fabrics varies greatly depending on their origin.

The Musée de l'Homme also evokes the cultures associated with wax. Colors, shapes, patterns: fabrics change according to countries, religions, communities, or even political demands. For those who know how to decipher the symbols, a garment becomes almost an identity card.

In parallel with the exhibition, the Musée de l'Homme presents a selection ofcontemporary works in the Foyer Germaine Tillion. Visitors can admire fashion creations and multidisciplinary works that question the symbols behind wax. Stereotypical fabric or emblem of identity? Artists such as Gombo Wax, Thandiwe Muriu and Omar Victor Diop question the role of wax in Africa and the world today.

The Musée de l'Homme unveils a whole cultural universe around this fabric: come and discover it from the beginning of 2025.