Afrofuturism & Quilts: Materializing Black Futures & Black Womxn’s Quilt Legacies

The Quilt Index’s Black Diaspora Quilt History Project is hosting an exhibition titled Afrofuturism & Quilts in the Union Gallery at Michigan State University (MSU). In this exhibition quiltmakers and quilt scholars explore embodied and theoretical connections between Afrofuturism and quilt making. Each piece in the exhibition explores aspects of included quiltmakers’ identity and experiences, as well as their beliefs, hopes, and imaginings of a liberated Afrofuture. The work of local and national quilt artists will be showcased. Artists include: April Shipp, Dr. Elka Stevens, Janda Lipker & Rebecca Lipker, Carole Lyles Shaw, Dr. Diana Baird N’Diaye, Chiquita Whitfield, & Dr. Liv Furman. This exhibition is curated by Dr. Liv Furman, with special thanks to Dr. Julian Chambliss.

This exhibition builds from the Afrofuturism & Quilts virtual panel conversation, planned and moderated by Chambliss and Furman, on October 5th, 2023. This virtual panel event explored theoretical and experiential context regarding themes of Afrofuturism, quilt making, and the utility and legacies of Black art/craft. The panelists for this event included: Ytasha Womack, John Jennings, Dr. Elka Stevens, & Deimosa Webber-Bey.

Sponsors for the Afrofuturism & Quilts exhibition include, but are not limited to, the MSU Museum, the Quilt Index’s Black Diaspora Quilt History Project, African American & African Studies at MSU, and an Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant from the MSU Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. The Quilt Index’s Black Diaspora Quilt History Project is a National Endowment for the Humanities funded initiative.