Interview with the Quilters of Gees Bend

music Hello and welcome to the Chrysler Museum of Art I'm rick Salsberg director of public relations re talking about the exhibition quilted gees bend geez band as an isolated community in Alabama with an incredible traditional group making and around us and on these walls in these galleries are about 70 quilts from a remarkable tradition through the depression and very hard times during the depression and before and after women ag's band me probes since southern african-american culture was already known to have produced among other things in the greatest music in israel planet Earth there had to be an artistic a component that a parallel but it hadn't really come to light so for the last fifteen to twenty years I've been traveling around the South and photographing interviewing banding collecting and putting together evidence in the premise that I came to understand which is it Southern African American culture which is thought to be essentially nonproductive in the visual arts another kansan so-called intellectual creativity said an african-american culture developed a some other greatest Visual Arts in history as this country at least and and it just wasn't known in recognizing I had heard about geez be and not because at least world but because I just as a social phenomenon he was one of the only places a perhaps the only place still existing because it was an but an isolated community in a few hundred people difficult to get into and get out of most to the people there born there live their dad there very few people came in cell I was curious to see what pans have on artistic phenomena night a exist that we just didn't know about I went there not expecting to find these remarkable quills a had a clue I'd seen a photograph in a book then im a young he was a small photograph but there was a quilt and are ya ride there was one the most remarkable works of art that I'd ever seen is now on the cover the book that accompanies this show as added to just call and see who she was and if possible that quilt still existed and one thing led to another I came in found her one night Leighton she was scared me and I scare and she asked me to come back in the daylight so we has stayed overnight came back the next day quilted at Main and never told you hang in a museum abominable then be allowed me to come to my house again for a quickie see in the book you'll get a clue that I don't even know what a clear day he's a given a trap down at around one ish down he see nuclear own would pat and main talking up that would pass took a peek out with back and putting in a bull he felt and we found that quilt though she didn't think she had it up a little strange in urban america mere minutes on way and he panicked Liam has a debt/equity easy decision as a defended their head nationally in he's I want to give you 10 and Ethan an alleged ap gonna be able to get a no-good and they don't put too much your leaky one and even to nato be demanded and get a clue hang up in me unapproachable that led to person in May to see another person in that person sent me to see another person to disallow to trust each other in respect each other but eventually they took out what they call the old ugly Ragley things which is what I was looking for a late up a must be lookin for pretty in fancy things which they made occasionally but didn't like to and I said no I wanna see what you really make what you did to keep yourself warm at first com I missed and there came a house and he looked at my clip beckwith he'll be on the war he thought it was shoppin and I thought it was nappin and as it turns out that tradition among african americans love making these very improvisational and more or less unique wills goes back hundreds of years again it was never very well documented the only African American quilt sick that documented where the SoCal fancy in pretty ones that that women made because the slave owner and thereafter would would say make me a pretty quilt and show 'em a pattern but behind the scenes these women will make in things that came totally out on their own hearts and souls and minds and these patterns that you see on the wall here all go back while they're not patterns East styles go back hundreds if he has an Angie's band basically two hundred years to the a to the our agenda the community they didn't really come to light until fairly recently we hate heart can through we have to enable grapple we have to leave mystical work to try to keep well and work hard all your cell and you might not being down again I'm out the crowd we had a hard task under and do raised the whole degrading chicken degrade the gold gas but we hey the pan out Neil picked out week that's what you hate to call only make active field that's what we do. don't with deal tells they police and me and my brother we would talk war we could do it see my dad was a way of the 10 and we had everything to do in one should be just deal with improved so monarchy became 14 it was 40 man roster acquitted she said to me she's so much is learn handed make clues the first scooter ever made was a strain tweet and I have it today has said that when I need to give away I'm adjustment path for you another time a state-backed they kept me back not film to get me back become weakened old we have nothing to wear on about how my grandma my mother told me you can go to school Necron you to be so cold I want to go to school about 12 people with my classmate I want in the evening the daily at me but I finished the mall invaded I graduated from college in nineteen 7 stick the mall Eagle a different place in st. Mac that hangin and no Mike when it's beautiful I'm not a fan on paying only on wall wean field in Seaton ranked ahead and Pierre we hated passed out the house with newspapers that different paper book and being hook hanger fact wall to him to keep me in a and told our past may be happy if for Rome nail maneuver though the CBF tyd date who's hanging on the wall Cole on 0 in jeans brand alabama won the most popular patterns is called hostile and basically what they do is they take a a center block a fabric and then they poured rectangular strip surrounded this is a pattern that nationally is commonly called log cabin because the center is thought to represent the chimney on the cabin and then the strips represent the wart now normally are and most parts of america this type love unit would be one small patch in many of them would be used to make a quilt this is something very different at the G's benders do is they take these patterns and make a hawk world out of a single block now sometimes I use it all the way through this is a a house strawberry and where you basically have a number of patches but not arranged and an tightly organized fashion so that it has real vitality and life basically you would normally if you're doing this and other parts of the country you might have nine patch is here where they be a neat little rows here you have 8 to at the bottom and three over three at the top now the caller's go probation a pale yellow to coral to read here cherry red and peach now let's look at how this same type a pattern works out when done in pale yellow a Bayesian almost looks like a minimalist caning with a little surprise element in here that red stripe now you may have noticed the texture of the something else is very different about gees bend squirrels is that the women use all sorts of fabrics in the nineteen seventies there was a cartridge industry of making proper chance for Sears and Roebuck and with the leftover corduroy they started making quarter or a quilt something you don't get as far as I know in any other part of the country but they have wonderful texture you have the ribbing of the quarter or giving them real life and vitality so on the wall the read like painting but there are also other school these quotes are amazing on

Channel: NorfolkTV

Views: 40,467

Rating: 4.8974357 out of 5

Keywords: Norfolk, VA, Quilts, Gees, Bend, Chrysler, Museum, of, Art, quilt, gee's, poverty, home, made, art, textile, NNN, TV, government, history, african, american, Alabama, William, Arnett, Pettway

Id: MpYNsmRtLNE

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 16 2007