Some quilts are quick to get familiar with and easy to access. For many of us, quilts are part of the home landscape. That's also why they are powerful as objects of art – they are quickly utilitarian, expressive, fantastical and intimate.
These dual features come together in the latest exhibition of Bumpfa routed 20th century African American quilts in the west of California. Featuring work by more than 80 black artists, West Chronicle recorded West how quilting played a role in the second largest migration as millions of black Americans fled the South's oppressive racial landscape from 1940 to 1970.
“The storytelling and insight into history that we currently have through these objects is truly extraordinary,” says bump faculator Elaine Yau in this 101 video. “Many of these men and women were a generation of immigrants who left the South during World War II during Jim Crow. Now we are telling this ability to convey this part of history and how inflamed so much of the Bay Area culture is in black Southern culture.”
Dozens of featured quilt makers are part of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, a multi-generational group that offers skill sharing with member communities, and is an opportunity to showcase their work. Other quilts from a selection from a unique collection of nearly 3,000 African American quilts (large singles) created at Bampfa after the bequest in 2019 are supported by Matthew Villar Miranda, Curatorial Associate at Bampfa.
What emerges from the carefully cataloged gray archive boxes of the collection, spread in vibrant colors on the walls of the museum, resonates with personal history. The quilt displays every color in the rainbow, ranging from vibrant and contrasting contrasts to subtle variations of mixed patterns and prints. The story of the people behind the quilt pops out at you with bold shapes and small details – stories of resilience, family, protest, and more.
“(Quilts) live with people in everyday life,” Yau says.
Check out the entire video for more information about the Routing West Exhibition at Bumpfa.
Watch 101 in a 101 video featuring UC Berkeley faculty and experts.
