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Augusta Savage Gallery
Fine Arts Center
University of Massachusetts Amherst
jenoure@umass.edu
asg@umass.edu

Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts announces a digital exhibition entitled Kofifi/Covfefe by UMass Theater MFA Costume Design Candidate Emma Hollows '20G displays new work from May 4 through 31, 2020. To view the exhibit visit fineartscenter.com/Hollows.

Kofifi/Covfefe marks the culmination of Hollows’ MFA Costume Design thesis which  envisions a production of the South African musical Sophiatown to be staged in Massachusetts. Through her design process she identified the many similarities between the struggles of people of color in the US to those in South Africa. The focus behind the costume designs for this exhibition is to balance the political, historical and social context of the play with the context of the audience to create believable and relatable characters on stage.

Sophiatown first captured Hollows’ attention when she saw a production during her undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge. However, it was at UMass that the idea really developed when studying with Professor Megan Lewis, a native South African, who introduced Hollows to the playwright Malcolm Purkey and invited Hollows to the National Arts Festival in South Africa. 

Emma Hollows is a costume designer and fabricator from the UK who has just completed her MFA in Costume Design at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has worked professionally both in the US and UK including at the Royal Albert Hall and Sadler’s Wells in London and performances at NYPOP in NYC. Her next event will be the Design Showcase East in NYC before she moves to Shakespeare and Company, MA, for their Fall Festival.