‘PARTED’ Exhibit in Charlotte Is A Love Letter to Black Hair

I attended the VIP Grand Opening of PARTED, a new exhibit here in Charlotte, and I walked out feeling seen, nostalgic, and deeply proud. Curated by Davita Galloway, Nadia Meadows, and Cheryse Terry, PARTED is not just an exhibit.  It’s a mirror that reflects our childhood, our culture, our survival, and our joy, all through the lens of Black hair.

I invited my college friend, Fariyda, to come with me, and almost instantly, the memories started flowing. As we moved through the space, we laughed and reminisced about our “hair days” at Johnson C. Smith University.  Fariyda was the braid expert. Our friend Tasha handled our perms.  And my roller set? Untouchable!  Between the three of us, we were our own campus beauty salon.  That’s the thing about Black hair, it has always created community. It has always turned kitchens, dorm rooms, and back bedrooms into sacred spaces. PARTED captures that truth with care and intention.

Throughout the exhibit, the curators’ own words guide the experience:

“Hair is never just hair. It is memory braided into muscle. Ritual passed hand to hand. A language spoken without words. For Black people, hair has always been a site of ingenuity, resistance, care, play, and becoming.  PARTED is a multisensory exhibit honoring Black hair as history, art, and lived experience. From ancestral braiding traditions to kitchen-table rituals, from bold declarations of style to quiet acts of protection, this exhibit traces how our crowns cany stories across generations. Here, hair is archive and future something shaped by mood, movement, survival, and joy.  Throughout the exhibit, you'll encounter expressions of Black hair across decades; iconic and everyday tools, products, and memorabilia; and original artwork created with or inspired by hair as material, muse, and metaphor. Each section invites you to feel texture, recall memory, and consider how hair marks who we are and how we choose to show up in the world.  As you move through PARTED, we invite you to reflect: What has your hair carried for you? What has it protected? What has it helped you become?”

Those words perfectly frame what you experience inside. PARTED doesn’t tell you what to feel… it invites you to remember.

How to Experience PARTED

• Dates: January 19–25

• Location: Dupp & Swat, 1824 Statesville Ave, Ste 105, Charlotte, NC 28206

• Bonus: Daily workshops that add an interactive, hands-on layer to the exhibit

If you’re in Charlotte, PARTED is absolutely worth your time. Come ready to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with the memories your hair has carried and the future it’s still shaping.