Steve Turner is happy to current Breaking Custom: Late twentieth Century Malian Marriage ceremony Textiles, an exhibition that includes eight brightly coloured strip-woven, figurative textiles that, to our data, is the primary exhibition to focus solely on the topic. Representing a dramatic break with this centuries outdated custom in Mali which traditionally favored indigo and white cotton or brown wool blankets, these works current a brand new method to the style of wedding ceremony textiles. Depicting folks and animals, they had been used to adorn the partitions of homes throughout weddings and as covers for the newly imported iron beds. Following the 1968 army coup, troopers additionally turned a prevalent theme. Related works have been included in overview exhibitions of African textiles, together with the often-cited exhibition Artwork of African Textiles, (Barbican Artwork Gallery, 1995), which featured one of many artists included right here, Oumar Boucoum.
Three weavings by Boucoum, member of the second technology of Fulani wedding ceremony weavers, are introduced in Breaking Custom. Sturdy examples by 5 different weavers reveal that the motion was extra widespread than beforehand thought and that extra scholarship is important. Little is thought concerning the weavers past the actual fact all had been males and that every one had been members of “Maabo,” the Fulani caste of griots and reward singers.
In presenting the primary survey of Malian wedding ceremony textiles, we acknowledge the inspiration of two New York galleries, Julien Levy Gallery (1931-1949), and Edith Halpert’s Downtown Gallery (1926-1968). Each of those galleries had been pioneers in exhibiting modern artwork together with people artwork, as does Steve Turner.
