Class Exhibition Update

Class 3/5

We each each talked about the progress from our groups (Documentation, Curation, Writing, Invitation, Opening). Since were still in the process of curating the exhibition and finding a concrete theme, members of the install and de-install teams did not need to be addressed for their tasks yet.

We focused on the curation team’s home visit with Susan Thompson, we looked through the photos that they took and talked about the work and their experience along with the theme of legacy that is present in her work (through themes and collaborations). From there, we began to break down how we wanted to frame the exhibition.

In order to inform our conversation of Susan’s work and the decisions being made in regards to themes and the title for the exhibition, we discussed the artist conversation with Wegechi Mutu. Mutu is a young Kenyan artist who also deals with lineage and violence. Observing other artists working within similar realms and conversations as Susan was helpful in guiding us through the decisive process.

Another important element to process of creating an exhibition is deciding on the title. The title is crucial as it is what puts the collection into context and reels the viewer in to the exhibition.

Here is an excerpt from the class meetings minutes, in which we generated ideas and tried various but similar titles until we found one that was perfect.

• “Thread” — the double meaning
• about the history of the other shows (ex: the ICA’s When The Stars Begin to Fall, which came from a spiritual song)
• Important to relate to the vision
• Some of the ideas:
  • Piece by Piece: Legacy of Susan Thompson
  • Susan Thompson: piecing together a legacy
  • Susan Thompson: a threaded legacy
  • Exalting Life
  • Jubilee -led to conversation about history of Jubilee and the meaning
  • Threaded/Legacy
  • Threading — Threaded Prayers
  • Threaded History/Heritage
  • Bound Through Time/Stitch in Time
  • Threading a Legacy: Work of Susan Thompson

Feeling happy with, “Threading a Legacy: The Work of Susan Thompson,” we the next step was thinking about the postcard used to invite people to the show and reception:

• The piece (not as “fiber/quilt”) of her grandmother
• one of her more traditional quilting pieces
• the overlap of the quilts
• the butterfly piece
• the rust boy piece
• “Atlas” (contemporary frame)
• Hesitant to take the ancestors room work, because of “breaking the room”

The class decided that “Atlas”– one of the rust pieces titled, “Woman Uplifting the World”, was a captivating piece for the postcard.

Of course inviting people to the show is an important part of showcasing an exhibition, and with the help of Ms. McRath, Katie has been compiling a list of names to send the postcards to. Katie also discussed with Beth about more schools to reach out to for the opening of the show.