ASU Museum hosts celebration, features two exhibitions for Black History Month

Jan. 24, 2008 -- Arkansas State University Museum will hold its Cultural Diversity Celebration and reception in honor of Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 3 p.m.–6 p.m. in the main gallery on the 2^nd floor of the Dean B. Ellis Library building on the Jonesboro campus.

As part of that celebration, two exhibitions will be open from Friday, Feb. 1–Friday, March 14. Rose Ong’oa, Heritage Studies PhD student, will serve as guest curator for the exhibit, “Wearing What Cannot Be Spoken,” and will be on hand to answer questions during the Cultural Diversity Celebration. This exhibit presents Kanga cloth – a type of cloth worn by women in East Africa to publicly display messages in writing that cannot be said out loud. Originating in 19^th-century slave clothing, these proverb-imprinted textiles are Swahili women’s creative means of expressing their feelings and opinions within the tenets of their beliefs. The exhibit, open through Friday, March 14, includes a hands-on component for children.

In addition to “Wearing What Cannot Be Spoken,” an exhibition of photographs by Nadia Price Bates Strid, “A Delta Era Gone By,” will also be on view. Strid was the first professional female photographer in Memphis, Tenn. An apprentice to Memphis photographer Avery N. Stratton in 1939, she opened her own studio, Photographs by Nadia, in 1945 with Caroline Jenkins. Strid’s photography chronicled the lives of the African American community in Memphis and throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. ASU’s collection of black and white photographs from the 1930s-1960s Mississippi River Delta Region is summarized in photographer Nadia Strid’s own words, “As you look deep within the soul of each face, I hope you will feel their joys, and share their sorrows.” 

Exhibitions are free, due to support from the Arkansas State University Office of Diversity. The public is invited to the reception on Thursday, Feb. 7, and to the exhibitions throughout the entirety of the month.

In order to bring quality tours and special events to the Northeast Arkansas region, the ASU Museum relies on volunteers. To be a volunteer in DocentCorps or to volunteer during the Cultural Diversity Celebration, please contact the ASU Museum. For more information on the Cultural Diversity Celebration or the individual exhibits, please call Lenore Shoults, Arkansas State University Museum, at (870) 972-2074, or e-mail lshoults@astate.edu.

 

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