“The Lynch Quilts Project,” which examines the history and ramifications of racial violence in the United States through the textile tradition of quilting, will be on exhibition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from Feb. 3-March 15.
“The Lynch Quilts Project,” a community-based effort by artist LaShawnda Crowe Storm, is presented by Bib & Tucker Sew-Op and the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History and co-sponsored by the Jefferson County Memorial Project. The exhibition will be on display at UAB’s Project Space Gallery, 900 13th St. South. To see the exhibition, visit www.bibandtuckersewop.org for a schedule of when the gallery will be open or call 205-975-0693 to make an appointment.
The project is a series of six quilts tackling the lynching phenomenon from various perspectives, such as collective memory, communal conflict, gender, healing and politics. The quilts combine a variety of traditional and contemporary quilting techniques to examine how the past, present and future are intricately connected.
An interactive, community call-and-response libation to honor those who have died by lynching in Alabama and surrounding states, led by community healer and artist Afriye We-Kandodis, founder of By the River Center for Humanity in Selma, Alabama, will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, 1221 10th Ave. South. Following the libation, Crowe Storm will present her lecture “How to be an Artivist.”
A reception for the exhibition will follow from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 6, in Project Space.
At the core of this project is not only a healing ritual, but a memorial process. Quilting is the ideal choice to explore this history because of the great metaphors the quilting process personifies and the communal aspect of quilt-making. Quilts and the quilting process epitomize reclamation and rediscovery. From the beginning, “The Lynch Quilts Project” has been rooted in community, and members of a global community have contributed to the construction of the quilts through the donation of fabric, sewing of individual blocks and aiding in the actual quilting.
Crowe Storm is the community engagement director for the Spirit & Place Festival. She is a mixed-media artist, activist, community builder and occasionally an urban farmer. Whether she is making artwork or sowing seeds, Crowe Storm uses her creative power as a vehicle for dialogue, social change and healing. Crowe Storm has worked with diverse communities to build collaborations, empower community voice, use creative approaches to address difficult dialogues and engage in community organizing.