Quilts and Human Rights
January 15 - August 24, 2008
Main Floor Gallery
"Quilts and Human
Rights" is an exhibition exploring the role that quiltmakers have played
in raising awareness of human rights issues around the world and the power
of textiles to communicate important ideas and information. The exhibition
will feature inspiring and often provocative quilts made to document and
express transgressions of human rights, to educate others about human
rights issues, and to pay tribute to leaders of human rights movements.
A special component of the exhibition is being developed in collaboration
with the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha, South Africa and will focus
on human rights champions Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela.
"Quilts and Human Rights" and related programs are partially supported
by funds from the MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives,
the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the Michigan
Quilt Project Endowment.
This exhibition is part of a special human rights theme for 2007-2008.
See also http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Current/expressions_of_human_rights.html.
Related activities:
Martin Luther King Day Reception, January 21, 2008
Also, watch for demonstrations of quilting by artists from Michigan
and gallery walks and lectures.
Featured quilt:
"Mr. Mandela," by Beverly Ann White, 1990, Pontiac, Michigan. From MSU
Museum/Great Lakes Quilt Center collections.
Learn more here at the MSU Museum's Great Lakes Quilt Center web page:
http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/exhibits_main.html
http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/exhibits_Human%20Rights-1.html
http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/exhibits_Human%20Rights-3.html
http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/exhibits_Human%20Rights-5.html
Quilts and Human Rights Special Programs
Srebrenica Memorial Quilt lecture, featuring Iain Guest
March 24, 7:00 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
In 2007, the women of BOSFAM, a Bosnian women's group, began the
Srebrenica Memorial Quilt, in commemoration of the victims of the 1995
massacres in Bosnia. The quilt is now on display at the museum. Bosfam’s
partner in the US is the Advocacy Project (AP) based in Washington DC.
Each year, AP recruits graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows
with community-based partners around the world, including Bosfam. Iain
Guest, Director of The Advocacy Project, will discuss the quilt project
and AP’s Fellowship Program. The program is targeted at graduate students
in the middle of their Masters program who will still benefit from the
program in their second year of studies. The experience of working side
by side with human rights advocates also builds leadership skills and
a life-long commitment to human rights. This will prove particularly
valuable to those pursuing a career in international development. For
more information visit: http://advocacynet.org/page/fellowshttp://advocacynet.org/page/fellows
"Ugly Quilts" Quiltmaking Day
Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Description: Workshop to make quilts for the international "My
Brother's Keeper" project, an initiative to address the needs of the
homeless. Quilts made during the workshop will be donated to the project.
Event sponsored, in part by the Residential College of Arts and Humanities.
For more information about the project: http://thesleepingbagproject.org/Home.html
Meet the Curator: Dr. Marsha MacDowell, Curator of Folk Arts, MSU
Museum and Professor of Art and Art History
Sunday, April 6, 2-2:30 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Exhibit co-curator Dr. Marsha MacDowell will be on hand in the
gallery to informally talk with visitors about Quilts and Human Rights.
Quilts and Human Rights Music and Spoken Word Open Mike Night
Friday, April 18, 9-11 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Music and Spoken Word Open Mike Night hosted by Sam Merciers, MSU
doctoral candidate. Share your poetry and music.
Songs of Peace, Protest, & Social Justice - A Community Sing
Featuring; Catherine Ellis, Rachel Alexander, Alma Muxlow
Saturday, May 3, 2-4 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
A community singing event led by musicians Rachel Alexander, Catherine
Ellis, and Alma Muxlow.
Meet the Artists
Chris Worland
Sunday, March 16, 2-5 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Meet East Lansing quilt artist and educator Chris Worland. Worland
will demonstrate making her art and be on hand to talk with visitors
about her work, including "She Carries Her House" which is based on
reflections of a visit to South Africa and is featured in Quilts and
Human Rights.
April Shipp
Sunday, April 6, 2-5 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Meet quilt artist April Shipp of Auburn Hills, Michigan, and talk
with her about her quilt "Strange Fruit: A Century of Lynching from
1865-1965." At 3:00 p.m. Shipp will give a presentation about the inspiration
for and the research that went into making her quilt.
Diana N'Diaye
Sunday, April 13, 2-5 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Meet and informally talk with quilt artist, Dr. Diana N'Diaye.
N'Diaye is an anthropologist, visual artist, Cultural Heritage Specialist
and Curator at the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
and a Research Associate, Michigan State University Museum. At 3:00
p.m. Dr. N'Diaye will give a formal presentation about her work.
Meena Schaldenbrand
Sunday, April 20, 2-5 p.m.
MSU Museum Main Floor Gallery
Quilt artist Meena Schaldenbrand, of Plymouth, Michigan, will demonstrate
making her art and be on hand to talk with visitors about her work,
including "Nelson Mandela's Presence," "Merits of Bombs?," and "Peeling
Layers Back to Basics" featured in Quilts and Human Rights.
Sponsor Acknowledgement for Quilts and Human
Rights events:
The exhibition and related programming was supported by the Michigan
Traditional Arts Partnership grant from Michigan Council for Arts and
Cultural Affairs and a Creating Inclusive Excellence Funding award from
the MSU Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives. Supplemental
funds have been provided by the Michigan Quilt Project Endowment; the
Great Lakes Traditions Endowment; the Department of Art and Art History;
Department of Anthropology, Residential College of Arts and Humanities;
Public Humanities Collaborative; Visiting Faculty Program, Office of
the Provost; and the Center for Gender in Global Context at MSU. In-kind
support was contributed by the Michigan State University Museum.
