PRESS RELEASE: Grass Roots

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art, a highly anticipated exhibition created by the Museum for African Art in New York, opens on August 29, 2008 at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, and runs through November 30, 2008.  Through the story of the beautiful coiled basket, Grass Roots revisits the history of the southeastern United States and demonstrates the enduring contribution of African people and culture to American life. Featuring over two hundred objects, including baskets made in Africa and the American South, African sculptures, paintings from the Charleston Renaissance, historic photography, and new video, the exhibition follows the history of the coiled basket on two continents and shows how a simple farm tool once used for processing rice has become a work of art and an important symbol of African-American identity.

Grass Roots review by NEA Intern on arts.gov

In the Grass Roots exhibit, Mary Jackson’s extraordinary baskets take their place among several generations of equally ambitious and time consuming designs. Each takes time and patience to create, from the cutting and peeling of the grass blades to the intricate twisting, tucking and weaving of the leaves. The result is a patterned and often multi-colored assemblage combining durability and design: a rice fanner, a fruit basket, a hat.

America.gov--Grass Roots review

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art, an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, tells the story of the coiled sweetgrass baskets made by the Gullah/Geechee people of the southeastern United States — descendants of slaves brought from Africa 300 years ago.

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art

This guide approaches the study of history through the ancient craft and modern art of basketry. It encourages an interdisciplinary study by students as they integrate their understanding of history, geography, social studies, and art. While the importance of baskets as agricultural tools has diminished, basketry still serves as an expression of an artistic vision, cultural identity, and as a source of income for many people.