Our Intern Iris Liu reports on Powerhouse Talk Maximalist Identities for Sydney Design week.
Last Thursday, I was very glad to participate in the events of Sydney Design Week as one of the powerhouse volunteers. As a volunteer with a background in design, ‘Maximalist Identities’ is an event that resonates with and inspires me, pushing the boundaries of how we think about identity, culture, and expression through design.
The event was part of Sydney Design Week and featured Jane Duru, Associate Creative Director of R/GA, in conversation with Moroccan-British artist Hassan Hajjaj, exploring how his work embraces the fusion of diverse backgrounds through vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and distinctive narratives that challenge Western stereotypes of Moroccan identity.
The event featured an insightful discussion with Jane Duru as they explored Hajjaj’s famous work ‘Kesh Angels’, which features women in traditional Moroccan dress and veils riding motorbikes, with cheap heart shaped sunglasses contrasting with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci, as the female figures look confident and energetic. By combining the consumerist symbols of luxury brands with traditional Moroccan elements, traditional gender roles are challenged, demonstrating the strength and independence of Arab women.
This mixture is also reflected in a series of photographs framed by repetitive Moroccan tin cans, where the packaging of everyday consumer goods imbued with Moroccan culture collides with luxury goods, blurring the boundaries between the ‘ordinary’ and the ‘high end’, critiquing the social phenomenon of consumerism and brand worship. The use of these cans is not only a reflection on modern identity and material culture, but also a metaphor for some of the themes of the shoot, ‘I’ll use beef stock cans, for example, when I’m shooting a beefy guy.’
Hajjaji’s work explores the multiplicity of identities, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. By mixing traditional and contemporary, global and local elements, he reflects on how personal identity is affected by multiple cultural, social and economic factors. The characters in his works are often marginalised or unknown groups of people, but they express their unique identities through art, showing how individuals define themselves in the cultural flood of globalisation.
Hajjaji’s work uses an abundance of vibrant colours and intricate patterns, whether it be in the characters’ costumes, background designs, or border decorations, combining traditional Moroccan art forms with modern visual culture to create visually striking works. This superimposition of multiple elements discusses the interrelationship between identity, culture, and consumerism, and reflects the complexity and multiplicity of what he wants to express.
As I left the ‘Maximalism identities’ event, I couldn’t help but feel inspired, not just because of the bold colours and statements, but because it reminded me that design is a powerful form of selfexpression. In a world full of minimalism, ‘maximalism’ showed me the appeal of complexity, chaos and contrast. It has also made me reflect on how I have communicated my identity and the impact it has had on me through my work throughout my own creative journey. The spaces and designs we create are as multiple as our identities, and perhaps, in the end, that’s the real power of maximalism — it gives us the freedom to be unapologetically ourselves.
By Iris Liu, Powerhouse Design Intern
See more events at the Powerhouse Museum.
https://powerhouse.com.au/