Dining Room Pantry
BLK FLWR MRKT
Kehmari Norman
2023 installation
2nd Floor - Dining Room Pantry
The Inspiration
Dining Room Pantry
The Flowers
Florist’s inspiration: Cotton and the Cherry Blossom Tree. The cotton plant is emblematic of American history, one of the country's most profitable cash crops and a more honest national flower. It is also a symbol of pain and suffering for African Americans; a memory of the disgusting history of human chattel slavery.
While cotton has a dominantly negative connotation, the flower also was a tool of reproductive freedom for Black women enslaved on cotton plantations in the antebellum south - including in Washington, DC. The bark of the plant was used in an abortive tincture to take control of their reproductive rights. Today, the cotton symbol can also represent the tenacious and favored legacy of Black Americans, and how far we've come.
Cherry Blossom is the Washingtonian tree. It was imported to DC as a gift of friendship from the People of Japan, and symbolizes duality, both beauty and death, beauty and violence.
The merge of the Cotton bloom and Cherry Blossom Tree symbolizes Chocolate City, DC
Recipe: Tree branches and trunk, silk flowers, cotton, cherry blossoms
THE DESIGNER
Kehmari Norman
BLK FLWR MRKT
Founded by DC-born florist and community organizer Kehmari Norman, BLK FLWR MRKT is a multifaceted floral and creative design agency that bridges human culture with floriculture and agriculture. Using flowers as our medium and language, we tell stories that represent and empower communities through intentional products and sensory-exploratory experiences.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
Tori Del Photography
Tori Del is a fine art wedding film photographer who caters to the Washington D.C./Montgomery County/Arlington County area as well as destination locations.
She cultivates the art of your love story through a fine art perspective and provides an experience not just for your wedding day but throughout your wedding journey.
Tori was also a participating photographer in Beyond the Blackout, an industry event celebrating the contributions of Black artists, co-produced by Anderson House.
