Using the quilts made by Gee’s Bend artists currently on display at Tate Modern as a starting point, this conversation will discuss a community of artists expanding traditions of abstract art using recycled textiles.
The Gee’s Bend quiltmakers are an intergenerational community of African American women living in the isolated settlement of Boykin (Gee’s Bend), Alabama. Many of the quiltmakers are direct descendants of the enslaved people forced to labour at the cotton plantation established there by Joseph Gee in 1816.
Though the Gee’s Bend quilts were originally made by necessity as bedspreads and blankets, the tradition has continued with new generations. In recent years the quilts have been shown in fine art museums and galleries internationally, celebrated for their striking abstract compositions and improvisational approach to shape, texture and colour. Currently on view at Tate Modern are quilts by Mary Lee Bendolph, Annie Mae Young, and Aolar Mosely.
Alayo Akinkugbe graduated from University of Cambridge with a BA in History of Art in 2021, and is currently undertaking an MA in Curating at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She is founder of the Instagram platform, @ABlackHistoryOfArt, which highlights Black artists, sitters, curators and thinkers from art history and the present day.
Raina Lampkins-Fielder is a Paris-based curator, cultural programmer, and educator. She is the curator and program officer for Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership which are dedicated to promoting the work and legacy of African-American artists from the South.
The Starr Cinema is on Level 1 of the Natalie Bell Building. There are lifts to every floor of the Blavatnik and Nathalie Bell buildings. Alternatively you can take the stairs.
- This event will be BSL interpreted.
- There is space for wheelchairs and a hearing loop is available.
- All works screened in the Starr Cinema have English captions.
All Tate Modern entrances are step-free. You can enter via the Turbine Hall and into the Natalie Bell Building on Holland Street, or into the Blavatnik Building on Sumner street.
- Fully accessible toilets are located on every floor on the concourses.
- A quiet room is available to use in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 4.
- Ear defenders can be borrowed from the Ticket desks.
To help plan your visit to Tate Modern, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information about what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.
For more information before your visit:
- Email hello@tate.org.uk
- Call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 – option 1 (daily 09.45–18.00)
