Crépu: Our DNA Returns, Honouring the Rich History of Black Hair in Canada
For its third iteration, the cultural event returned to Ingenium—Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation for a gorgeous two-day celebration.
Canada’s largest celebration dedicated to Black hair, Crépu: Our DNA, made its debut in 2023 at SAW Centre, a local art gallery in the city, with high demand from people wanting to see the designs, photography, presentations, and the ever-popular hair art runway—the first of its kind in Canada. Among the audience members were Alexa Lepera and Sarah Jaworski, assistant curators at Ingenium—Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation.
Lepera and Jaworski hoped to host Crépu at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, a museum at Ingenium, and they succeeded in becoming Ingenium’s official liaisons for Crépu’s 2025 edition. Lepera especially was grateful for her experience at the first Crépu and the chance to see Black hair appreciated. “Look at all these Black folks—all their hair is so beautiful and so amazing,” she said at the event.
As assistant curator at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Lepera has a job steeped in history, but it was during her first master’s in gender, feminist and women’s studies that she learned more about the trusted and pivotal role museums play in shaping and recording public insight. She already had an interest in the Black Canadian experience and learning more about museums led her to take a master’s in public history. Initially, she was unsure if Crépu’s mission would directly translate to her work at Ingenium, but she soon realized she couldn’t be more wrong. “There’s so much innovation and creativity and joy and science behind how Black people have always done their hair and how we take care of their hair,” she says.
To accommodate the extensive demand, this year’s program was a two-day affair instead of one, with each day having identical programming. Crépu is always a grand event, and this year was no exception with more art, more vendors, more education, and jaw-dropping hair art on the runway.
Last year, Lepara and Jaworski gave a presentation on Black Canadian beauty culture, and this year, they focused on Black barbering in the 20th century, primarily on the East Coast. As long as Black people have been in Canada, the barber shop has been a community touchstone for Black men and communities alike.
“We do live in a world where Black hair has and has always been a politicized topic where there are all sorts of outside sources that tell us how we should do our hair and how it should look and what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate,” Lepera says. “I think the wonderful thing about Crépu is you just see all the variations that exist, and they are all beautiful, and they deserve to be celebrated.”
This year was my second time attending Crépu, and I am grateful for the event, not only for its portrayal of Black beauty but as a necessary record of Black Canadian history.
Photographs by Curtis Perry.
