The Skin Quilt Project, is a documentary that explores colorism in the African-American community through the stories of African-American quilters, and the artform that was passed down through generations to celebrate its culture. The quilters featured in the film speak of the influence of the African American quilting tradition in encouraging an appreciation for African-American cultural heritage.
Colorism has been a long disputed issue within the African-American community, however, filmmaker, Lauren Cross, speculates that African-American quilters are much more grounded in their African roots, and as quilt historian Carolyn Mazloomi states ” we joined by the thread of a needle” leaving no room the “color-complex.”
As many African-American quilters come from the families of quilters who’ve passed down quilting techniques to their children and grandchildren, today’s quilters represent African-American men and women who have become concerned with telling the story of their cultural heritage. In The Skin Quilt Project, quilters tell the story of skin color politics in African-American culture, yet realizing the power of quilting to empower self-confidence their community.
About the Artist:
Lauren Cross is a writer, activist, and interdisciplinary artist working in mixed media, photography, media arts, and installation art. Her current research interests include the issues of colorism and the “color complex” within the African American community, and her current work addresses ideals of beauty, race, and skin complexion in media imagery. She is also the founder and editor of CVAAD Projects( www.cvaad.com), an online blog and resource for contemporary visual art of the African diaspora. She received her BA in Art, Design, and Media from Richmond, The American International University in London, England, and she is a MFA in Visual Arts candidate at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. She currently teaches at Stonehill College, Easton, MA.
For more information,
please contact us at:
info@skinquiltproject.com
Save the Date for the upcoming screening events of The Skin Quilt Project for 2010-2011. Additional dates, times, and locations TBA. Also, if you’re interested in hosting a screening of The Skin Quilt Project please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com
March 2010
13- Nubian Heritage Quilt Guild, East Orange, NJ 20- New England Quilt Museum at 1:30 p.m., Lowell, MA
April 2010
TBA Stonehill College, Easton, MA Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
May 2010 15- Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture, Charleston, SC
June 2010 TBA
July 2010
August 2010 TBA
September 2010 TBA
October 2010 TBA- SQP Quilt Exhibition w/Screening at the Towne Art Gallery at Wheelock College, Boston,MA
November 2010 5- Rice University, Houston, Texas
December 2010
TBA
January 2011
TBA
February 2011
7- Newton Free Library, Newton, MA, 7-9 p.m. Q & A w/ director
Screening of The Skin Quilt Project in East Orange, NJ!
The Nubian Heritage Quilt Guild will be celebrating their 15th anniversary on Saturday, March 13th, and as a part of their celebration they will be hosting a screening of The Skin Quilt Project in their program!
So if your in the New Jersey area, and you’d like to get additional information about the screening event as well as the other anniversary festivities please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com and we’ll forward you to their representative.
On March 20, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. there will be a screening of The Skin Quilt Project at the New England Quilt Museum located at: 18 Shattuck Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01852.The community screening is hosted by the Lowell Film Collaborative.
For more details contact: info@skinquiltproject.com
Host a screening event for The Skin Quilt Project!
Great news everyone, post-production of The Skin Quilt Project is complete!
We’re truly excited, but there is certainly more work to do. We are putting together our calendar of events, including community and film festival screenings so we’ll be posting the list of locations and dates that will be showing the film in March 2010.
But we would like to extend an invitation to all of our supporters to take part in this process. You too can be a part of spreading the message of the film in your community!
Regardless of whether your hosting your event in a theatre, church, cafe, community center, or even in your own home we’d be happy to partner with you to ensure that you have everything you need to host the event you desire.
If you would like additional information on how you can host a screening in your area, please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com
Vermelle “Bunnie” Rodriguez, director of the Gullah Museum( Pawley’s Island, SC) talks about the Africanisms represented in the Gullah/Geechee Culture. Rodriguez is an avid story quilter and member of the local quilting circle in her community.
The Skin Quilt Project features fiber artists Wendell George Brown and Michael Cummings in the upcoming documentary, here they discus the misconceptions of gender in African-American quilting and the history of male influences in textile/fiber arts.
The Skin Quilt Project features quilt historian Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi discussing her journey into researching and documenting contemporary African American quilts.
Director of Music and composer for The Skin Quilt Project, Solomon Cross!
Introducing the official Director of Music & Composer for The Skin Quilt Project score, Solomon Cross. Solomon Cross is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he received his Masters in Music,and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston in Houston,Texas where he earned his bachelors. He will be releasing his debut album, Be Free on November 27, 2009. Only 4 days left to pre-order your copy for only $10! Feel free to check out his website( www.solomoncrossonline.com) for more details.
African American Quilting Scholars in The Skin Quilt Project!
The Skin Quilt Project will be interviewing two of the most cutting-edge African American quilting scholars of today, Ms. Kyra Hicks (Arlington,VA) and Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi( West Chester, OH). Both have contributed extensively to the development of writings on the African American quilting tradition, as well as elevating the history and stories of the African-American quilters that they feature.
Kyra Hicks is the author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook(2003), Martha Ann’s Quilt for Queen Victoria(2006), and her recently published book This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt and Other Pieces(2009).
Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi is the author of Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts(1998); Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition(Paper Moon Publications, 2007); and Quilting African American Women’s History: Our Creativity, Champions and Challenges(Paper Moon Publications, 2008). She is also an independent curator of exhibitions such as Threads of Faith(2004); Quilting African American Women’s History: Our Creativity, Champions and Challenges(2008); and she also assisted curator, Roland Freeman with the inaugural exhibition, Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inaugration of our 44th President. Dr. Mazloomi is the founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network, an organization built to foster and preserve the art of quiltmaking among women of color. Her new book The Journey of Hope in America: Art Quilts Inspired by Presideny Barack Obama is scheduled for release in December 2009. The Skin Quilt Project participant Sherry Shine’s art Quilt is featured on the cover.
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