There are no fabrics in Africa. This is what Bubu Ogisi was told while studying fashion in Paris. Similarly, the dominant narrative has been that there are no monuments, no ancient texts, and no innovative technologies. Having being colonised and exploited for resources, the concept of the Dark Continent permeates the creative industry. It’s a strange concept considering a new form of colonialism that has turned several parts of the continent into dumping grounds for the global North’s textile waste. And, even stranger considering Africa has such a rich textile history and tradition. “When I started working in fashion,” Bubu says, “everyone would tell me I would have to travel to Taiwan or China.” She didn’t understand this, as she remembered the truckloads of regional fabrics her mother had stored at home.

Founder of the womenswear label, IAMISIGO, Bubu relies heavily on locally produced fabrics from Tanzania and Uganda to Benin and her home country, Nigeria. Outside of her brand, Bubu is a fibre artist exploring everything from sisal and raffia to bark cloth and waste textiles to explore African spirituality and history in a decolonial practice. “It’s about telling the truth of the heritage of fabrication on the continent,” say Bubu.

Her latest project, Synthetic Dreams, on exhibit at this year’s Cape Town Investec Art Fair transforms found objects and upcycled clothing and fabrics into designs that become part of the African tradition of masquerades. Working between Benin Republic and Nigeria, Bubu has spent the last two years collaborating with local artisans, tailors and creatives including fashion brand, This Is Us, and photographer, Tamibé Bourdanné to create an alternate version of the religious practice.

Each piece is incredibly striking – not unlike the terrific, uncanny and mystical costumes from which they draw inspiration. One piece is a pair of trousers made completely from disembodied plush toys. Another is a cartoonishly large dress shirt covered in neck ties, obscuring the human form beneath. There is a piece that is made only of dress shirts. “It’s performance art as religion and religion as performance art.”

Typically, masquerades are religious, spiritual ceremonies involving song, dance and fantastical dress to ward off evil spirits. The disguise acts as a gateway to the metaphysical realm; allowing the wearing and surrounding community to confront and address the divine state.

“Masquerades are staples of every African culture,” Bubu explains. For this project, the artist primarily looked to the practices found in Benin Republic and Nigeria, having spent time with different artisans to study their techniques, approaches and involving them in the production. Bubu works intuitively, letting the materials speak to her and guiding her team according to her visions – hence the title ‘Synthetic Dreams’.

“The vision comes before the audience,” she says. Many of the people with whom she collaborates have been weaving, embroidering, crocheting and sewing in intricate and specific ways for a very long time so some of her ideas were an uneasy break from tradition. “The tailor was looking at me like I was a crazy person. Putting ties on shirts, sewing them all together, and everything was blue!” she recalls. However in the end, the greater cultural ethos and intention shone through and everyone came to see her vision.

In utilising waste materials, a product of an overly consumptive and decadent culture, Bubu addresses colonialism and imperialism as evil spirits. Even in more circular, slow practices like thrifting, our elders often warn of the energy carried in used clothing. In masquerades, dress is mystical, it has the power to transform the wearer but it also carries the language, perspectives and intentions of the community who produces and consumes it. Bubu, in turn, looks at clothing and how it allows us to understand ourselves, our spirits and communities as well as embody what we wish to take with us into the future.

We might live in the information age, a time where we value speed and efficiency as a show of growth and progress but Bubu’s work shows us how little we know because of how much we are increasingly removed from the past. There’s a popular meme which states, “Reject modernity, embrace tradition,” and while a great joke, much like Bubu’s practice, it’s a reminder that sometimes our liberation is already with us.

• Khensani Mohlatlole is a writer, content strategist and digital marketer, and fashion enthusiast and historical/ vintage costumer. Follow her Instagram here
• Images, supplied by the artist, are in collaboration with @tamibebourdanne