Zulu Nation Hoodie: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This hooded sweat shirt was made by Exact Science, a San Francisco-based concept studio that promotes and produces urban art. It is a dark blue cotton/polyester sweat shirt with a drawstring tie, 2-sided open pocket, and printed silver "Zulu Nation" graphic on the front. This hoodie was available through the Universal Zulu Nation company created by hip hop artist Afrika Bambaata (b. 1957).

Afrika Bambaata (born Kevin Donovan), an American DJ from the Bronx, was influential in the early development of hip hop and is regarded as the “Godfather” of hip hop culture. He has been instrumental in spreading hip hop music and culture around the world, as well as creating opportunities and helping to improve the lives of others in the hip hop community through his organization "Universal Zulu Nation." In 1990, Bambaataa made Life magazine's "Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" issue.

Materials, dates and provenance

• depicted: Zulu Nation
• maker: Exact Science
• Object Name: sweat shirt
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 40 in x 24 in x 2 in; 101.6 cm x 60.96 cm x 5.08 cm
• place made: United States
• Subject: Hip-Hop
• ID Number: 2006.0067.03
• accession number: 2006.0067
• catalog number: 2006.0067.03
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.