This fall Union welcomes two new and thought-provoking exhibits to the Nott Memorial. “North by Northeast: Baskets and Beadwork from the Akwesasne Mohawk and Tuscarora,” opens Friday, Sept. 25, followed by “Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit” on Thursday, Oct. 1.
“North by Northeast,” which runs through Saturday, Oct. 24, offers a unique glimpse into the traditional arts of New York’s Akwesasne Mohawk and Tuscarora tribes through exquisite woven baskets and beadwork.
The selected pieces in “North by Northeast” were chosen from a larger traveling exhibition curated by Kathleen Mundell, folklorist and director of Cultural Resources, a nonprofit organization that helps communities sustain local culture. An opening reception will be held Friday, Oct. 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Nott Memorial, in conjunction with the opening reception for the second show, “Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit.”
“Reimagining” is a traveling exhibit curated by Rickie Solinger, an independent curator and historian from New Paltz, N.Y. The show, which runs through Sunday, Dec. 20, features 36 works by 28 contemporary artists. Each work has, as its visible core, a tool that was important for women’s domestic labor in the past. Many of the incorporated tools – a washboard, a dressmaker’s figure, cooking pans, rug-beaters, mason jars – facilitated very hard and repetitive labor. They evoke various histories – European American, African – American, Asian American – of women’s unpaid and often diminished and disrespected status within the household and society.
The show’s title aptly includes the distaff, a tool attached to a spinning wheel that’s designed to hold un-spun fibers. Over time, the word came to refer to matters and objects in the domestic or women’s sphere, and then, to women in general.
Solinger will give a lecture in conjunction with “Reimagining the Distaff” on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium. The talk is entitled “Becoming a Curator: Seeing Race, Class, Gender and History in Objects and Images.”
Both exhibits and all related events are free and open to the public. For additional information on either show, click here or call 388-6729.