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Defence Minister Christopher Pyne MP has today returned back from an extended staycation in his native Adelaide with slightly blonde cornrows.
The 51-year-old father-of-four refused to explain why he was donning the new afro-centric hairstyle, but many commentators are drawing links between his recent pilgrimage to the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Despite being commonly linked to conservative policymaking, the quirky nature of the 7-year-veteran of the Coalition cabinet has seen him elevated to cult status amongst the creatives elite in South Australia, who champion him as their one true voice in the swamp.
Pyne was spotted at the world’s second-largest annual arts festival, in his home city several weeks ago – where it is believed he was hanging out with some slackliners and incense retailers who were playing Moroccan drums.
Cornrows or braids, also called canerows in the Caribbean, are an ancient traditional African style of hair grooming, in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to produce a continuous, raised row.
Cornrows are often formed in simple, straight lines, as the name implies, but they can also be formed in complicated geometric or curvilinear designs.
In anglo-culture, the haircut is often associated with either whiteboys obsessed with rap, or artsy types. Two demographic stereotypes that Pyne has previously pledged allegiance too both on Twitter and during ABC Q&A.
“I must say they are easier to maintain than my dense perm” he said to one reporter.
“WOMADelaide was off the chain”
