Transcendent Traditions: Baskets of Two Continents

FAIN: GM-50494-05

Museum for African Art (Long Island City, NY 10029-8405)
Enid Schildkrout (Project Director: February 2005 to March 2009)

Implementation of a traveling exhibition, public programs, and website on the heritage of coiled baskets in South Carolina's Low Country and on how they reflect local history and changing and artistic traditions.

“Transcendent Traditions: Baskets of Two Continents.” is a traveling exhibition featuring the history of the humble but beautifully crafted coiled basket, made in Africa and in the southern United States for as long as Africans have been on these shores. By following the trajectories of African and African-American baskets and their makers, the exhibition sheds light on the origins and evolution of an ancient art in the global economy, while interpreting under-explored areas of American and African history.