Quilting Demonstration by the African American Quilting Guild of Oakland. Quilters will be working in the MoAD Salon constructing quilts and answering questions from the public. Additional Quilting in Process dates are Wednesday, February 16th from 2-4 pm and Saturday, April 16th from 2-4pm. Free with MoAD Admission.

Introducing a new series designed to bring different scholars to MoAD who will present on a variety of topics related to the African Diaspora. These Member Only events will create a bridge of conversation between scholars and the community. All talks will occur on Saturday mornings 10am -12pm in the Salon. Seating is limited. Please RSVP to education@moadsf.org. The first presentation is entitled Fanon's Children: The Black Panther Party and the Rise of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles by George Barganeir, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Africology at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. His current work, Fanon’s Children: The Black Panther Party and the Rise of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles is an historical study of how evolving political activism, state actions and economic conditions have shaped Black consciousness among young Black men in Los Angeles from 1964 to 1992.

 Open to MoAD Members Only

Please RSVP to education@moadsf.org

Join master quilter, Marion Coleman, in creating quilts inspired by jazz, memory, family stories, cultural change, and a world filled with color. $35/$30 General/MoAD members per workshop, includes materials. Advanced Registration is required. Workshop fee can be paid at the front desk or online at http://marioncolemanquilting312.eventbrite.com Additional dates are Saturday, March 19, and Saturday, March 26. Marion Coleman’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. She has done artist residencies at the de Young Museum, Parchester Community Center through Richmond Arts Center, Edna Brewer Middle School through the California Arts Council, Manzanita Elementary through ALICE-Arts and Literacy in Children’s Education and Alameda County Juvenile Justice through Community Works/Alameda County Arts Commission. Her work has been presented in numerous publications including American Craft, Quilting Arts Magazine, Alter Couture, Creative Quilting, a book on journal quilting and Textural Rhythms: Quilts in the Jazz Tradition, a book and touring quilt exhibition that opened in 2007 (currently on exhibition at MoAD). She is also featured in Crafted Lives by Patricia Turner that was published January 2009. Coleman received a 2007 Creative Work Fund Grant to collaborate with two other quilt artists and the Bay Area Black United Fund for a project on African American health disparities. These works opened February 2009 as part of the African American Health Expo in Oakland, CA. She has served on the board of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, the African Advisory Council of the Oakland Museum and the board of the Textile Arts Council of the de Young Museum.

In Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters, Dr. Patricia Turner explores the culture and recent history of African Americans through the creations and wisdom of nine quilters. Turner profiles quilters who exemplify the range of black women and men dedicated to the making of quilts, and she shows how their craftwork establishes order and meaning in their lives. The artisans comprise eight women and one man, ranging from teenagers to octogenarians, representing an array of education and income levels, and living across the United States, including Alaska. Turner also probes the ways in which African American quilts and quilters have been depicted, discussed, criticized, and characterized. From the displays of Harriet Powers's creations at the turn of the twentieth century to the contemporary exhibits of such black art-quilts as those promoted by Carolyn Mazloomi, and such utilitarian expressions as the celebrated examples from Gee's Bend, Alabama, Turner uses quilts to assess the level of control African Americans have had or have not had over the materials they craft and the art they leave as legacy to new generations. Dr. Patricia A. Turner is professor of African American and African studies and the vice provost of undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis. She is the author of Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture among other books. The lecture will be followed by a booksigning. Free with MoAD Admission.

David Montana and Ausettua Amor Amenkum (New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians) and Nimely Napla (Liberian Masking traditions) will discuss the function of masking in West African societies, their retention and transformations in New Orleans. Each will give live demonstrations of their respective forms and discuss the costuming and their significance. The New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian is a cultural phenomenon unique to New Orleans that emerged in the late 1800s with African descendants playing Afro-Caribbean rhythms and wearing costumes made of beads and feathers which were modeled after Native American ceremonial dress.

David Montana is the Second Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. A jeweler by trade, he has harnessed his keen sense of design and technique which transforms into his mangnificent suits that are of museum quality. His outgoing energy and mastery of the Indian chanting and dance is what makes him one of the most spirited Black Indian Chiefs.

Ausettua Amor Amenkum is Artistic Director of Kumbuka African Drum & Dance Collective and Queen to Second Chief David Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians. She teaches dance at Tulane University.

Nimely Napla is a master dancer, craftsmen, costume designer, choreographer and former director of the Liberian National Cultural Troupe. In 1994 he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he currently reside and formed the Nimely Pan African Dance Company, the only Liberian traditional dance company in Minnesota.  

The lecture and demonstration will feature artists performing in the Collage des Cultures Africains event entitled "Festival of the Masks." In its 17th year, March 10-13, 2011, Collage is an annual gathering of local and international performing artists from the African Diaspora. This year’s conference and event is dedicated to masking traditions from the countries and regions of Senegambia, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Congo, Nigeria and the United States. For more information, please go to www.diamanocoura.org

This program is co-sponsored by Museum of the African Diaspora, Nfungotah Inc. Board of Directors, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company.

Free with MoAD Admission.

THE VANGUARD invites you to...

Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition, Contemporary African American Quilts

After the success of our last event in Oakland, we invite you to the Museum of the African Diaspora. Discover, engage and connect with the current exhibit, permanent collections, Vanguard members, and the beauty that is MoAD.

Debrief after a long day and refresh on us. Vanguard will provide wine, beer and light appetizers complimentary for the evening.

ADMISSION

Free to Vanguard Members (become a member)

$10 non-members

Join us for a Friday afternoon screening of this documentary produced in Nigeria and dealing with the production of Adire, hand painted or knotted cloths, dyed with Indigo. The artistic creation of these cloths has long tradition in Yoruba culture. Originally, Adire was strictly female handicraft, whereas nowadays also men can learn the Adire production.Possibly the most famous Nigerian adire artist, Nike Olaniyi Davies, has been trying for years to revive this old handcraft. She founded a centre in Oshogbo in which Adire is taught and where this film was shot.

Join master quilter, Marion Coleman, in creating quilts inspired by jazz, memory, family stories, cultural change, and a world filled with color. $35/$30 General/MoAD members per workshop, includes materials. Advanced registration is required. Pay workshop fee at the front desk or online at http://marioncolemanquilting319.eventbrite.com Additional dates are Saturday, March 12, and Saturday, March 26. Marion Coleman’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. She has done artist residencies at the de Young Museum, Parchester Community Center through Richmond Arts Center, Edna Brewer Middle School through the California Arts Council, Manzanita Elementary through ALICE-Arts and Literacy in Children’s Education and Alameda County Juvenile Justice through Community Works/Alameda County Arts Commission. Her work has been presented in numerous publications including American Craft, Quilting Arts Magazine, Alter Couture, Creative Quilting, a book on journal quilting and Textural Rhythms: Quilts in the Jazz Tradition, a book and touring quilt exhibition that opened in 2007 (currently on exhibition at MoAD). She is also featured in Crafted Lives by Patricia Turner that was published January 2009. Coleman received a 2007 Creative Work Fund Grant to collaborate with two other quilt artists and the Bay Area Black United Fund for a project on African American health disparities. These works opened February 2009 as part of the African American Health Expo in Oakland, CA. She has served on the board of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, the African Advisory Council of the Oakland Museum and the board of the Textile Arts Council of the de Young Museum.

Uganda Bead Making Join us on the 2nd Floor in the MoAD Salon for March’s Family Day activity in honor of Women’s History Month. Inspired by those made by modern Ugandan women’s collectives, families will make colorful beaded necklaces out of strips of recycled paper.

Free with MoAD Admission.

Lecture and Performance with the Berkeley Jazzschool faculty member Wayne Wallace. Clave and Quilts When we embrace our differences we celebrate community, life and create something new and beautiful. The music of any group of people is the rhythm of their culture, a gift to be shared by all. Like a quilt, the music of the Americas has many disparate influences while it draws it's strength and beauty from diversity. Blues, jazz, tango, bomba, cha-cha-cha, bolero, merengue and more. "Clave and Quilts" is a musical pastiche of the secular and sacred sounds of remembrance that move us forward into tradition. A 6 time Grammy nominee, Wayne Wallace is one of the more highly respected contributors of African American-Latin music in the world today, having been recognized by numerous organizations and publications including in the Downbeat Critics Polls under the trombone and producer categories. Mr. Wallace is an accomplished arranger, educator, and composer. He's performed, recorded, and studied with acknowledged masters of the Afro-Latin and Jazz idioms such as Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire, Pete Escovedo, Santana, Julian Priester, Whitney Houston,Tito Puente, Steve Turre, John Lee Hooker, Con-funk-shun, and Max Roach. The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped Wayne's career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music and Jazz have included several trips to Cuba, New York, and Puerto Rico. His distinctive melding of cultures, styles of music, and diverse collaborators is truly a reflection of his being a native San Franciscan. Mr. Wallace is also widely respected as a teacher and historian. He is currently an instructor at San Jose State University, Stanford University and the Jazzschool in Berkeley. He is sought after nationally as a lecturer and clinician. As the head of his own record label, Patois Records, Wayne has created a unique company with a passionate mission of developing and chronicling the multi-cultural styles of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. Free with MoAD Admission.

Join master quilter, Marion Coleman, in creating quilts inspired by jazz, memory, family stories, cultural change, and a world filled with color. $35/$30 General/MoAD Members per workshop, includes materials. Advanced registration required. Pay workshop fee at front desk or online at http://marioncolemanquilting326.eventbrite.com Additional dates are Saturday, March 12, and Saturday, March 19. Marion Coleman’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. She has done artist residencies at the de Young Museum, Parchester Community Center through Richmond Arts Center, Edna Brewer Middle School through the California Arts Council, Manzanita Elementary through ALICE-Arts and Literacy in Children’s Education and Alameda County Juvenile Justice through Community Works/Alameda County Arts Commission. Her work has been presented in numerous publications including American Craft, Quilting Arts Magazine, Alter Couture, Creative Quilting, a book on journal quilting and Textural Rhythms: Quilts in the Jazz Tradition, a book and touring quilt exhibition that opened in 2007 (currently on exhibition at MoAD). She is also featured in Crafted Lives by Patricia Turner that was published January 2009. Coleman received a 2007 Creative Work Fund Grant to collaborate with two other quilt artists and the Bay Area Black United Fund for a project on African American health disparities. These works opened February 2009 as part of the African American Health Expo in Oakland, CA. She has served on the board of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, the African Advisory Council of the Oakland Museum and the board of the Textile Arts Council of the de Young Museum.