Dougla: Cultural Expression Through Pattern [Gallery]

Graphic designer Cherry Ann Davis blends her Trini' roots to create Dougla — a colloquial term used in Trinidad & Tobago to describe a mixed-race person of both African and East Indian descent. For Cherry, Dougla's designs tie together art and culture. The colors of Dougla were chosen specifically to unify different cultures of the Caribbean; Davis wanted her project to focus on the practices that make 'Afro-Caribbean' culture significant. The palettes are sure to bring togetherness in a symmetrical fashion. The artists explained it best herself:

Dougla is used as a cultural expression through pattern utilizing simple colour schemes representative of the diversity of the Caribbean Diaspora. I was intrigued by how many of the patterns survived the centuries and the manufacturing processes were also passed through the generations. Dougla seeks to create a pattern for the diversity of the Caribbean, utilising one triangle in varying arrangements. I see this project as a unifying agent of our varied cultures and an attempt to make a pattern that can be our mark in history with the great cultures of the world.

View Cherry Ann Davis' Dougla patterns in the gallery above. [H/T African Digital Art]