Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK- The recently held AfroFuture Festival gathered women with natural hair and entrepreneurs and exchanged practices and experiences with regards to natural hair as well as perceived beauty in the country.
The event which garnered a lot of natural hair enthusiast at the Bank Windhoek Theatre School was an idea by a young lady who wanted to address hair issues. “I cut my hair seven years ago and decided to gather women and educate each other more about natural hair,” said Zodid Gaseb, the founder of the festival.
With topics ranging from the relevance of Afrofuturism in the society, in particular, art, colourism, basics of natural hair care, it was a fruitful and engaging session.
The festival showcased about 30 vendors with products and services. One of the exhibitors Mpingana Dax said this was a great platform for them to come and offer their products. “The opportunity is amazing for exposure, for the public to see what is available. I love that potential buyers or users of these products can interact with other natural hair enthusiasts,” said Dax, who founded Kuti Oil Cc in 2017, a natural oil manufacturer for cosmetic oil made from indigenous plants, specifically the Amarula plant.
Dax believes that there are a lot of health benefits to going natural in terms of scalp health. Contrary to what people say about extra expenses going natural, Dax was off the opinion that It’s not expensive to go natural because compared to processed hair or weaves, the investment is far higher and requires more maintenance, it’s more about the kind of hairstyles one makes.
She patted the festival organisers for coming up with such an initiative and urged it to be bigger and better every year. “We should be attracting more ages of Namibia, considering there are a lot of young people here, there is a potential market for all of these products here and the support is needed,” concluded Dax.
Another company on display was Tuli Line, which makes natural body organic products for skin and hair. Representative Kimberly said the products they offer are important as they are natural. “The products we have are efficient at hair growth for those who are into keeping natural hair or people with dry skin or scalp, it helps to moisturise and improve hair texture,” she said.
Kimberly said AfroFuture should aim for bigger space that can accommodate a bigger crowd. “It should not be pact into a corner like this and I feel more advertising should be done to promote the event,” she clinched.