West Alabama meets West Africa this week at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center’s “World on Stage” festival, with "
Common Threads ," a residency that showcases the artistry of two vibrant textile traditions: the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Ala., and the mud cloth makers of Bamako, Mali.
The residency project was conceived and developed by the Alys Stephens Center with ArtPlay Teaching Artist Sharrif Simmons. The living art exhibition features the artists of both groups working simultaneously on their pieces in the center’s upper lobby. This week, Monday-Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., the artists will create their artwork. Lunchtime lectures are planned from noon to 1 p.m. and film screenings about the groups and about Mali also will take place in the mornings and evenings. Free demonstrations, guided tours and hands-on quilt making activities also are happening, so the public is invited to visit, watch or join in. A closing ceremony is planned for Friday.
See a full schedule here .
For the women of Gee’s Bend, making quilts was considered a domestic responsibility and as young girls they trained with their mothers, other female relatives or friends. Women with large families often made dozens of quilts over the course of their lives.
The quilt top—the side that faces up—is always pieced by a quilter working alone and reflects a singular artistic vision, but completing the quilt is often done in communal groups. Gee’s Bend became an important part of the mid-1960s Freedom Quilting Bee, designed to boost family income by selling handcrafts to visitors. In 2003, all the living quilters of Gee’s Bend, more than 50 women, founded a collective, owned and operated by the women.
The artists from Mali are part of Groupe Bogolan Kasobane. The word bogolan in the Bamana language literally means the result that is given by clay or earth. The clay is made from iron-rich mud, yet another connection to the iron ore-rich lands of Alabama. The clay is applied to cotton cloth, and as it dries, lends its colors. The dyes come from local plants that yield colors ranging from yellow and khaki to reddish brown.
Parking is free and available all day in the lot in front of the ASC, and in the UAB Highlands lot on Friday. Works by both groups will be for sale at the Alys Stephens Center, and everyone is invited to come by, watch the artists as they work, join in and experience what the Alys Stephens Center is creating for the community: living art.
The residency project was conceived and developed by the Alys Stephens Center with ArtPlay Teaching Artist Sharrif Simmons. The living art exhibition features the artists of both groups working simultaneously on their pieces in the center’s upper lobby. This week, Monday-Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., the artists will create their artwork. Lunchtime lectures are planned from noon to 1 p.m. and film screenings about the groups and about Mali also will take place in the mornings and evenings. Free demonstrations, guided tours and hands-on quilt making activities also are happening, so the public is invited to visit, watch or join in. A closing ceremony is planned for Friday. See a full schedule here .
For the women of Gee’s Bend, making quilts was considered a domestic responsibility and as young girls they trained with their mothers, other female relatives or friends. Women with large families often made dozens of quilts over the course of their lives.
The quilt top—the side that faces up—is always pieced by a quilter working alone and reflects a singular artistic vision, but completing the quilt is often done in communal groups. Gee’s Bend became an important part of the mid-1960s Freedom Quilting Bee, designed to boost family income by selling handcrafts to visitors. In 2003, all the living quilters of Gee’s Bend, more than 50 women, founded a collective, owned and operated by the women.
The artists from Mali are part of Groupe Bogolan Kasobane. The word bogolan in the Bamana language literally means the result that is given by clay or earth. The clay is made from iron-rich mud, yet another connection to the iron ore-rich lands of Alabama. The clay is applied to cotton cloth, and as it dries, lends its colors. The dyes come from local plants that yield colors ranging from yellow and khaki to reddish brown.
Parking is free and available all day in the lot in front of the ASC, and in the UAB Highlands lot on Friday. Works by both groups will be for sale at the Alys Stephens Center, and everyone is invited to come by, watch the artists as they work, join in and experience what the Alys Stephens Center is creating for the community: living art.