WORN ROUTES

  INSTALLATION / SCENOGRAPHY_2026

“WORN ROUTES” is the scenographic work for the music theatre production "WAX traders" by GROUP50:50. The project engages with the complex histories of textile production, trade, and consumption between Europe and West Africa, translating these narratives into a material and spatial language.

At the centre of WORN ROUTES is Nortey’s ongoing exploration of second-hand textiles and wax print fabrics. The work traces how clothing circulates globally—moving from sites of production and consumption in Europe and North America to markets across Ghana and other West African countries. These routes are shaped by colonial histories, post-independence industrial shifts, and economic policies such as structural adjustment programs, which contributed to the decline of local textile industries and the rise of imported second-hand clothing.

The scenography draws on the concept of “worn routes” as both physical and symbolic pathways. Fabrics become carriers of layered histories: of trade, labour, and everyday life. Many of the materials used in the work originate from second-hand garments, reflecting a system in which large volumes of imported clothing ultimately become waste, with visible environmental consequences in places such as Accra.

Through a collaborative process with local working-class communities, Nortey activates these textiles before reassembling them into large-scale installations. The fabrics bear traces of use—dirt, grease, wear—transforming them into archives of lived experience. By incorporating these marks into the scenography, the work foregrounds the visibility and value of labour that often remains unseen.

In dialogue with "WAX TRADERS", the project also reflects on the history of wax print itself—an industrial product shaped by transnational exchange, imitation, and cultural reinterpretation. Once embedded with strong social meaning and systems of communication, these textiles now exist alongside fast fashion economies that prioritize speed and disposability.

"WORN ROUTES" ultimately challenges dominant narratives of value rooted in colonial and capitalist systems. By repositioning fabric as a medium of memory, resistance, and identity, Nortey’s scenography invites a critical reconsideration of how labour—particularly African and diasporic labour—is perceived, remembered, and valued within global histories.