Exhibitions

The spectacular art of telephone wire weaving is the subject of iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Foregrounding artists’ voices, Weaving Meanings shares histories of the wire medium in South Africa, from the 16th century uses as currency to the dazzling artworks wire weavers create today. From beer pot lids (izimbenge) to platters and plates, from vessels to sculptural assemblages, works in the exhibition speak to the continued development and significance of this artistic tradition, both locally in KwaZulu-Natal and to global markets and audiences.

Weaving Meanings features historical items alongside contemporary works of art, demonstrating individual and community-based ways of making and knowing. Curated in consultation with Indigenous Knowledge experts in broader Nguni and specific Zulu cultures, this exhibition sheds new light on this artistic medium, highlighting the experiences of the artists themselves through videos featuring interviews and the process of creating wirework.

The first major exhibition of telephone wire art in any North American museum, Weaving Meanings features a significant collection generously assembled and donated by David Arment and Jim Rimelspach, the David Arment Southern African Collection. Guest curator Dr. Elizabeth Perrill, one of the world’s foremost experts on Zulu ceramics, brings to the project over 15 years of experience collaborating with artists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and 25 years of engaged research in Southern Africa.

To make a donation to help support this important project, please click HERE.

Image Credit: Telephone wire plate by Ntombifuthi (Magwaza) Sibiya, 515 x 425 mm. Museum of International Folk Art. Photo by Andrew Cerino.

Between the Lines: Prison Art & Advocacy seeks to re-humanize the incarcerated. Through a combination of in-gallery artworks, fresh multimedia pieces (interviews with returned citizens and allies, art-making demonstrations, etc.) and community-co-developed events, this exhibition will explore prisoners’ rights, recidivism / systemic oppression, and transitional justice.

The exhibition will feature large-scale color photographs and objects from war-torn Ukraine. Appropriating remnants of war—bullet and shell casings, helmets, ammunition boxes—the exhibition will explore how Ukrainians are coping with the daily trauma of death, loss, and destruction that comes from their lived experience. Items of war are reclaimed and reimagined as sites of human creativity by children, spouses, parents, injured soldiers, and artists in a way that reflects Ukrainian cultural perspectives and folk-art practices. This creative experience presents opportunities to heal and process what is happening around them, providing strength,  resilience, remembrance, and hope for a peaceful tomorrow.

Presented in the Gallery of Conscience, the exhibition will be multi-media, incorporating audio-visual components to provide a fully immersive experience. The curatorial team includes Laura J Mueller, PhD, MOIFA’s Deputy Director, Sasha Samuels, designer and artist, and Nina Medvinskaya, freelance curator, along with project manager, Lillia McEnaney. Associated programming during the exhibition will include film series, musical performances, lectures, and artist demonstrations.