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Current Exhibitions


EVOLUTION IN ACTION

MASK: Secrets and Revelations

Re:Dress

The Diversity and Intricate Beauty of Invertebrates

The Festive Lens: Photos from the 2010 Great Lakes Folk Festival

Michigan and the Civil War

MSU Museum around campus: Pamodzi; Africa + MSU, A Future in Partnership


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Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory
January 22 - August 13, 2006

Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory is a landmark exhibition that features textiles made in a variety of techniques and for different purposes by artists--mostly women--who have incorporated pictorial imagery in their work to communicate their personal and collective experiences with war.

Though these textiles arise from disparate cultural groups and reflect conflicts situated in areas of the world thousands of miles apart, occurring in different periods and motivated by different reasons, the works in Weavings of War embody powerful messages for those concerned with the impact of conflict on both individuals-notably women-and their communities.

The exhibition provides an opportunity to examine our existing notions of not only traditional arts in general but also the role of traditional arts in cultures rent by armed conflict, social upheaval, and displacement. The objects included in Weavings of War encompass powerful contradictions: individual artistry versus community aesthetics; global versus local impacts of war; individual versus universal experience; and assumptions of folk arts as unchanging, rural, and complacent.

Many of the artists represented by the work in Weavings of War still live in countries marked by recent conflict; some are refugees who have resettled in the United States. Weavings of War stands as an eloquent and powerful testimony of the impacts of modern warfare in our world and the relevancy and resilience of folk arts in contemporary life.

The exhibition and accompanying publication (available for purchase at https://secure.museum.msu.edu/MTAPStore/main.asp) were produced by City Lore (New York City), Michigan Traditional Arts Program/Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing), and the Vermont Folklife Center (Middlebury), three nationally-recognized organizations that have long been committed to documenting and presenting traditional arts and artists, not only of their immediate geographical areas, but also of artists beyond.

Major funding for this project has been provided by The Rockefeller Foundation, The Coby Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.


"WEAVINGS OF WAR: FABRICS OF MEMORY" EXHIBITION RELATED ACTIVITIES

MSU Museum Studies Program, AL 498 Learning in Museums.
Open to the general public..
Thursday, February 9
Time: 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Event: LATTICE Educators' Workshop with special presentation by Dr. Marsha MacDowell
Location: Main Gallery, Heritage Gallery
NOTE: Open only to members of LATTICE (Linking All Kinds of Teachers with International Cross-Cultural Education).

Sunday, February 26
Event: Gallery interpreters
Time: 1:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Location: Main Gallery
Members of the Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Social Justice who have received training in being gallery guides will be on hand to discuss the exhibition with visitors.

Saturday, February 25
Time: 9:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m. noon
Event: "Expressions of War"/Peace Collage Creation
Location: MSU Museum Auditorium
Adults of all ages and high school youth are invited to participate in a collective arts activity that is designed to capture experiences, beliefs, thoughts, and emotions around the issues of war. The result of this session is a personal and artistic interpretation of war and how it affects the world, society, and/or you as an individual. This is also an opportunity to meet others who share in common purposes. Craft supplies will be provided. Coordinated by the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice

Sunday, February 26
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Event: "Making it Good, Doing it Right" Learning Fair
Location: Throughout the MSU Museum
This event will offer hands-on activities for all ages that relate to understanding and promoting sustainability of our backyards, our community and our world. Timely, provocative, important. The program is the product of the creative energies of the students in the MSU Museum Studies program.

Monday, February 27
Time: 11:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Event: "Making it Good, Doing it Right" Learning Fair
Location: Throughout the MSU Museum
This event will offer hands-on activities for all ages that relate to understanding and promoting sustainability of our backyards, our community and our world. Timely, provocative, important. The program is the product of the creative energies of the students in the MSU Museum Studies program.

Tuesday, March 14
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Event: "Research and Exhibits," Gallery Talk by Marsha MacDowell, Co-curator, "Weavings of War" exhibit.
Location: Heritage Gallery
MacDowell, Curator of Folk Arts, MSU Museum and Professor, Art and Art History, will give an overview of the research issues and methodologies used in the exhibition project, followed by a short Q&A period.

Sunday, March 19
Time: 1:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Event: Gallery interpreters and youth art activities
Location: Main Gallery
Members of the Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Social Justice who have received training in being gallery guides will be on hand to discuss the exhibition with visitors. They will also lead simple hands-on activities for children and read to children books about war and peace.

Sunday, March 19
Time: 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Event: Ia Moua Yang (Michigan Heritage Award Artist) Demonstration and Textile Sale
Location: Main Entrance Hall
Ia Moua Yang, 2005 recipient of the prestigious Michigan Heritage Award, will demonstrate making a variety of Hmong textiles. Many items will be available for sale. Organized by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program, a statewide partnership of the MSU Museum and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

Sunday, March 19
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Event: Commemoration of the Third Anniversary of the Iraq War
Location: MSU Museum Auditorium
Participate in discussions, watch films, and observe a period of silence as you join in one of many events that are held throughout the community to mark this anniversary. Details of the program are still being planned, check the MSU Museum website for details closer to the event. Coordinated by the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice

Saturday, March 25
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Event: Film screening of "Threads of Survival" (1992)/"Heart of Congo"
Location: Theater A Wells Hall, MSU Campus
Michigan filmmaker Kathy Vander traces the lives of Hmong refugee artists who have resettled in Michigan. $7.00/$5.00 students and seniors
Co-sponsored by the East Lansing Film Festival, March 22 through 26, 2006. http://www.elff.com/

Thursday, April 20
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Event: "Line by Line, Peace by Peace" Poetry Slam
Date: April 20, 2006
Location: Main Gallery
Description: With inspiration from two powerfully original exhibits, "Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory" and "Siyazama: Traditional Arts, Education, and AIDS in South Africa," high school and college students are invited to write, listen, and perform based on themes of war and peace, social justice, and AIDS at the first ever poetry slam hosted by the MSU Museum.
Open to the public and free of charge.

Sunday, April 30
Event: Gallery interpreters
Time: 1:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Location: Main Museum Gallery
Members of the Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Social Justice who have received training in being gallery guides will be on hand to discuss the exhibition with visitors.

Saturday, May 13
Event: Gallery interpreters and youth art activities
Time: 1:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Location: Main Museum Gallery
Members of the Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Social Justice who have received training in being gallery guides will be on hand to discuss the exhibition with visitors. They will also lead simple hands-on activities for children and read to children books about war and peace.

Sunday, May 14 - Sunday, May 28
Event: "Images of War: Youth Art Exhibit"
Location: MSU Museum Youth Art Gallery
Youth in the greater Lansing area, especially those immigrants from war torn countries, depict their feelings about or experiences with war. Organized by the Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Social Justice

Saturday May 20 or Sunday, May 21 EXACT DATE AND TIME TBD
Event: East Lansing Art Festival "Museums on the Go" Youth Activities
Location: Downtown East Lansing
Children can make pins, flags and other craft items that will reflect the realities of war and the hope of peace. Co-sponsored by the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice


RELATED EVENTS

May 5 through July 7, 2006 (Opening Reception Friday, May 5)
Event: "Reflections of War, Threads of Peace"
Location: Woven Art Gallery, 25 B Grove Street, East Lansing, Michigan
This exhibit will showcase fiber arts that address issues and realities of wars present and past, or celebrate hopes for world peace. Submissions can be by slide or digital image, along with an explanatory paragraph. Concepts, drawings or plans for finished work will be considered. Deadline for submission will be March 19. Send materials to:
"Reflections," c/o Nancy McRay, Woven Art, 325 B Grove St., East Lansing, MI 48823
Organized by Woven Art in association with the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice


Friday, March 31
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Event: Hmong History & Culture: A Workshop for K-12 Educators
Location: 303 International Center, MSU Campus

An all-day workshop will provide an introduction to the history and culture of the Hmong and include sessions on food, textiles, language, and dance. There are roughly 200,000 Hmong people in the U.S., largely concentrated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. Several million Hmong people remain in China, Thailand, and Laos, and Vietnam speaking a variety of Hmong dialects. The workshop goal is to foster a better understanding by teachers of the Hmong people, thus facilitating their relationship with Hmong students and parents and providing tools with which to teach about Hmong history and culture in their classrooms.

The workshop is free but space is limited and registration is required. To register, contact Van Nguyen at 517-353-1680 or khanhvan@msu.edu. Preference will be given to K-12 educators, but others are welcomed to attend based on space availability. Register by March 24 to insure your spot! Presented by MSU: Asian Studies Center & Hmong American Student Association
http://www.isp.msu.edu/asianstudies/hmong/hmong.html


Saturday, August 12 and Sunday, August 13
Event: Laotian Hmong Textile Art Sale
Location: Great Lakes Folk Festival, downtown East Lansing
Michigan Heritage Awardee Ia Moua Yang and members of the Lao-Hmong community of greater Lansing will demonstrate sewing textiles and have examples of their work for sale.

Saturday, August 12 and Sunday, August 13
Event: Samite - in concert
Location: Great Lakes Folk Festival, downtown East Lansing
Acclaimed musician and Ugandan native Samite will perform multiple times at the Great Lakes Folk Festival. He is the founder of Musicians for World Harmony, whose mission is to enable musicians throughout the world to share their music to promote peace, understanding, and harmony, with a special emphasis on the displaced or the stressed who could most benefit from the healing power of music.


OTHER PROGRAMS ARE STILL IN DEVELOPMENT


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The activities associated with the 'Weavings of War" exhibition at Michigan State University have been made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice, Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Justice, East Lansing Film Festival, and the MSU Museum Studies Program.

Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice (GLNAWI)
GLNAWI promotes nonviolent solutions to international conflicts and advocates policies that promote human rights and civil liberties to ensure a just and democratic world. Please join our actions, come to one of our meetings and get involved. All are welcome! (www.glnawi.org)

Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Justice (GLYPAJ)
GLYPAJ believes kids have the power to make a positive difference in our world. It was established in 2000 by youth from Edgewood United Church interested in making the world a better place through social activism and members now come from all over the greater Lansing area. GLYPAJ is not affiliated with a religion. It is open to all youth, grades 6 - 12. (www.glypaj.net)

LATTICE (Linking All Kinds of Teachers with International Cross-Cultural Education)
Developed in 1995 as an international education partnership, LATTICE links six school districts in mid-Michigan with international graduate students/scholars at Michigan State University. LATTICE concentrates on adult learning and promotes practical links to K-12 classrooms. http://www.latticeworld.org/

East Lansing Film Festival
The East Lansing Film Festival is dedicated to showcasing foreign and independent films and to celebrating their diverse cultures, ideas and creativity. ELFF screens more than 100 films over five days, including 2 shorts programs. Audience Awards are given in each category. The 9th annual East Lansing Film Festival will take place March 22 through 26, 2006. http://www.elff.com/

MSU Museum Studies Program
Grounded in theory, reflection, and responsible practice, the Michigan State University Museum Studies Program prepares undergraduate and graduate students for innovative careers in museums and interpretive centers of learning.
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