Museum PR Announcements News and Information

Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) Opens Soulful Stitching Patchwork Quilts by Africans (Siddis) in India

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) Presents Soulful Stitching: Patchwork Quilts by Africans (Siddis) in India, on view July 15, 2011 – September 18, 2011.

Soulful Stitching: Patchwork Quilts by Africans (Siddis) in India features 32 striking patchwork quilts made by Siddi women, heirs to the culture and values of Africans brought to Goa on India’s west coast beginning in the 16th century. While they have adopted and integrated many cultural aspects of the Indian peoples with whom they have lived for generations, Siddis have also retained and transformed certain cultural and artistic traditions from Africa. Soulful Stitching provides an opportunity to explore the African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World through these colorful and vibrant quilts that demonstrate how cultural forms and traditions have been adapted throughout the Diaspora.

The traveling exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of African and African Diaspora Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr. Sarah K. Khan, Director of the Tasting Cultures Foundation.

This exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of African and African Diaspora Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr. Sarah K. Khan, Director of the Tasting Cultures Foundation. Dr. Drewal first saw kawandi while documenting Siddi expressive culture in 2004. All of the quilts in the exhibition are by members of the nonprofit Siddi Womens’ Quilting Cooperative, which is keeping this tradition alive and vibrant.

www.moadsf.org

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *