Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Disapora

Below: Susan Else, Crossing Points (detail), 2015.

Museum Information Location

Public Programs

The museum is located at the corner of 21st and G streets, NW, four blocks from the Foggy Bottom Metro station (Blue, Orange, and Silver lines).

For directions and parking information, visit museum.gwu.edu/plan-visit.

For the most up-to-date list of the museum’s educational programs, visit museum.gwu.edu/calendar.

Hours Mon, Wed–Fri: 11:30 AM–6:30 PM Sat: 10 AM–5 PM; Sun: 1–5 PM Closed Tuesdays and university holidays.

Admission $8 suggested donation for non-members.

Free for museum members, children, and current GW students, faculty, and staff.

Accessibility The museum is wheelchair accessible and designated garage parking is available nearby.

Visit museum.gwu.edu/accessibility for more information.

Museum Shop Visit the shop for unique jewelry, home décor, books, and gifts from Washington, D.C., and around the world.

Arthur D. Jenkins Library The reading room is open Wed–Fri: 1–4 PM and by appointment. Please contact the librarian before your visit at museumlibrary@gwu.edu.

Exhibition Tours Free walk-in tours highlighting selections from current exhibitions are offered each Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM (textile tour) and 2:45 PM (Washingtoniana tour).

To schedule a docent-led tour for groups of six to forty people, call 202-994-5578 at least four weeks in advance.

Join or Donate Support from members and donors is the driving force that allows the museum to continue its work bringing art, history, and culture alive for the GW community and the public. To join or renew a current membership, or to make a donation, visit museum.gwu.edu/support or call 202-994-5579.

Stay in Touch Follow the museum online for more information about works on view, programs, and behind-thescenes activities. @GWTextileMuseum TextileMuseum GWMuseum

Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies The reading room is open by appointment Mon, Wed–Thu: 11:30 AM–4 PM Please email washingtoniana@gwu.edu to make an appointment.

Textile-Museum.tumblr.com

Cover: Margaret Abramshe, Stranger in a Strange Land (detail), 2015.

The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum 701 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052 202-994-5200 | museum.gwu.edu

This exhibition is made possible in part through support from Roger and Claire Pratt, Eleanor T. Rosenfeld, and a partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

April 16 – September 4, 2016

What is diaspora and what is the diaspora identity? ick up any newspaper, turn on the television, or surf the Internet, and you will find powerful stories of immigrants escaping war, economic hardship, and despair in search of a better life.

Heartrending images of families fleeing their homes clutching meager textile belongings—quilts, carrying cloths, a few garments—appear daily on our screens. The story of diaspora and migration therefore is not one story but millions. The artists in Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora tell some of these stories.

For more than a thousand years, textile artists in the West have used tapestry and embroidered cloth to tell important stories, conveying significant cultural information about religious and historical events.

In recent years, quilts have served this same function: illustrating noteworthy historical events; celebrating friendships, births, and marriages; and mourning the loss of friends and family from death or relocation. The artworks in this exhibition continue this storytelling role. They are visual “books” that serve as a reference library for the human experience of migration. Combining the traditional quilt format with innovative twenty-first century technologies, the forty-four artists in this exhibition powerfully comment with fabric, needle, and thread on diaspora, the overarching narrative of our time.

Above: Sandy Gregg, Crossings II (detail), 2015.

Left: Joy Nebo Lavrencik, MOGADISHU, 2012.

Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora is a collaboration between the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, GW’s Diaspora Program, and Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).

Above: Shin-Hee Chin, Mother Tongue and Foreign Language, 2013.

Above Right: Susan Wei, Children are Not Criminals, 2014.

Below: Nancy Lemke, Only 8½ of Many Millions, 2015.

Coined in the third century, the term diaspora originated from a Greek word meaning “a scattering or sowing of seed.”

Traditionally the term was limited to the Jewish dispersion. Since the early 1990s, however, many dictionaries have expanded the definition to include any body of people living outside their traditional homeland. This broader definition reflects the changing magnitude and nature of global migration. Since 1990, world migration increased by more than fifty percent.

Above: Charlotte S. Bird, Sedna's Tears, 2015.

As of 2013, more than 232 million people (approximately 3.2 percent of the world’s population) were migrants.

Almost two in ten persons living in a developed country today are migrants, according to the United Nations’ International Immigration Report 2013.

And the numbers are increasing.

The diaspora identity is characterized by hybridity: It is a mix of characteristics from the place of origin, the place of residence, and lived experience. This mix is precisely the foundation upon which modern societies have flourished, incorporating diversity along with shared values and aspirations.

Below: Susan Else, Crossing Points (detail), 2015.

Museum Information Location

Public Programs

The museum is located at the corner of 21st and G streets, NW, four blocks from the Foggy Bottom Metro station (Blue, Orange, and Silver lines).

For directions and parking information, visit museum.gwu.edu/plan-visit.

For the most up-to-date list of the museum’s educational programs, visit museum.gwu.edu/calendar.

Hours Mon, Wed–Fri: 11:30 AM–6:30 PM Sat: 10 AM–5 PM; Sun: 1–5 PM Closed Tuesdays and university holidays.

Admission $8 suggested donation for non-members.

Free for museum members, children, and current GW students, faculty, and staff.

Accessibility The museum is wheelchair accessible and designated garage parking is available nearby.

Visit museum.gwu.edu/accessibility for more information.

Museum Shop Visit the shop for unique jewelry, home décor, books, and gifts from Washington, D.C., and around the world.

Arthur D. Jenkins Library The reading room is open Wed–Fri: 1–4 PM and by appointment. Please contact the librarian before your visit at museumlibrary@gwu.edu.

Exhibition Tours Free walk-in tours highlighting selections from current exhibitions are offered each Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM (textile tour) and 2:45 PM (Washingtoniana tour).

To schedule a docent-led tour for groups of six to forty people, call 202-994-5578 at least four weeks in advance.

Join or Donate Support from members and donors is the driving force that allows the museum to continue its work bringing art, history, and culture alive for the GW community and the public. To join or renew a current membership, or to make a donation, visit museum.gwu.edu/support or call 202-994-5579.

Stay in Touch Follow the museum online for more information about works on view, programs, and behind-thescenes activities. @GWTextileMuseum TextileMuseum GWMuseum

Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies The reading room is open by appointment Mon, Wed–Thu: 11:30 AM–4 PM Please email washingtoniana@gwu.edu to make an appointment.

Textile-Museum.tumblr.com

Cover: Margaret Abramshe, Stranger in a Strange Land (detail), 2015.

The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum 701 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052 202-994-5200 | museum.gwu.edu

This exhibition is made possible in part through support from Roger and Claire Pratt, Eleanor T. Rosenfeld, and a partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

April 16 – September 4, 2016

What is diaspora and what is the diaspora identity? ick up any newspaper, turn on the television, or surf the Internet, and you will find powerful stories of immigrants escaping war, economic hardship, and despair in search of a better life.

Heartrending images of families fleeing their homes clutching meager textile belongings—quilts, carrying cloths, a few garments—appear daily on our screens. The story of diaspora and migration therefore is not one story but millions. The artists in Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora tell some of these stories.

For more than a thousand years, textile artists in the West have used tapestry and embroidered cloth to tell important stories, conveying significant cultural information about religious and historical events.

In recent years, quilts have served this same function: illustrating noteworthy historical events; celebrating friendships, births, and marriages; and mourning the loss of friends and family from death or relocation. The artworks in this exhibition continue this storytelling role. They are visual “books” that serve as a reference library for the human experience of migration. Combining the traditional quilt format with innovative twenty-first century technologies, the forty-four artists in this exhibition powerfully comment with fabric, needle, and thread on diaspora, the overarching narrative of our time.

Above: Sandy Gregg, Crossings II (detail), 2015.

Left: Joy Nebo Lavrencik, MOGADISHU, 2012.

Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora is a collaboration between the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, GW’s Diaspora Program, and Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).

Above: Shin-Hee Chin, Mother Tongue and Foreign Language, 2013.

Above Right: Susan Wei, Children are Not Criminals, 2014.

Below: Nancy Lemke, Only 8½ of Many Millions, 2015.

Coined in the third century, the term diaspora originated from a Greek word meaning “a scattering or sowing of seed.”

Traditionally the term was limited to the Jewish dispersion. Since the early 1990s, however, many dictionaries have expanded the definition to include any body of people living outside their traditional homeland. This broader definition reflects the changing magnitude and nature of global migration. Since 1990, world migration increased by more than fifty percent.

Above: Charlotte S. Bird, Sedna's Tears, 2015.

As of 2013, more than 232 million people (approximately 3.2 percent of the world’s population) were migrants.

Almost two in ten persons living in a developed country today are migrants, according to the United Nations’ International Immigration Report 2013.

And the numbers are increasing.

The diaspora identity is characterized by hybridity: It is a mix of characteristics from the place of origin, the place of residence, and lived experience. This mix is precisely the foundation upon which modern societies have flourished, incorporating diversity along with shared values and aspirations.

What is diaspora and what is the diaspora identity? ick up any newspaper, turn on the television, or surf the Internet, and you will find powerful stories of immigrants escaping war, economic hardship, and despair in search of a better life.

Heartrending images of families fleeing their homes clutching meager textile belongings—quilts, carrying cloths, a few garments—appear daily on our screens. The story of diaspora and migration therefore is not one story but millions. The artists in Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora tell some of these stories.

For more than a thousand years, textile artists in the West have used tapestry and embroidered cloth to tell important stories, conveying significant cultural information about religious and historical events.

In recent years, quilts have served this same function: illustrating noteworthy historical events; celebrating friendships, births, and marriages; and mourning the loss of friends and family from death or relocation. The artworks in this exhibition continue this storytelling role. They are visual “books” that serve as a reference library for the human experience of migration. Combining the traditional quilt format with innovative twenty-first century technologies, the forty-four artists in this exhibition powerfully comment with fabric, needle, and thread on diaspora, the overarching narrative of our time.

Above: Sandy Gregg, Crossings II (detail), 2015.

Left: Joy Nebo Lavrencik, MOGADISHU, 2012.

Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora is a collaboration between the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, GW’s Diaspora Program, and Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).

Above: Shin-Hee Chin, Mother Tongue and Foreign Language, 2013.

Above Right: Susan Wei, Children are Not Criminals, 2014.

Below: Nancy Lemke, Only 8½ of Many Millions, 2015.

Coined in the third century, the term diaspora originated from a Greek word meaning “a scattering or sowing of seed.”

Traditionally the term was limited to the Jewish dispersion. Since the early 1990s, however, many dictionaries have expanded the definition to include any body of people living outside their traditional homeland. This broader definition reflects the changing magnitude and nature of global migration. Since 1990, world migration increased by more than fifty percent.

Above: Charlotte S. Bird, Sedna's Tears, 2015.

As of 2013, more than 232 million people (approximately 3.2 percent of the world’s population) were migrants.

Almost two in ten persons living in a developed country today are migrants, according to the United Nations’ International Immigration Report 2013.

And the numbers are increasing.

The diaspora identity is characterized by hybridity: It is a mix of characteristics from the place of origin, the place of residence, and lived experience. This mix is precisely the foundation upon which modern societies have flourished, incorporating diversity along with shared values and aspirations.

Below: Susan Else, Crossing Points (detail), 2015.

Museum Information Location

Public Programs

The museum is located at the corner of 21st and G streets, NW, four blocks from the Foggy Bottom Metro station (Blue, Orange, and Silver lines).

For directions and parking information, visit museum.gwu.edu/plan-visit.

For the most up-to-date list of the museum’s educational programs, visit museum.gwu.edu/calendar.

Hours Mon, Wed–Fri: 11:30 AM–6:30 PM Sat: 10 AM–5 PM; Sun: 1–5 PM Closed Tuesdays and university holidays.

Admission $8 suggested donation for non-members.

Free for museum members, children, and current GW students, faculty, and staff.

Accessibility The museum is wheelchair accessible and designated garage parking is available nearby.

Visit museum.gwu.edu/accessibility for more information.

Museum Shop Visit the shop for unique jewelry, home décor, books, and gifts from Washington, D.C., and around the world.

Arthur D. Jenkins Library The reading room is open Wed–Fri: 1–4 PM and by appointment. Please contact the librarian before your visit at museumlibrary@gwu.edu.

Exhibition Tours Free walk-in tours highlighting selections from current exhibitions are offered each Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM (textile tour) and 2:45 PM (Washingtoniana tour).

To schedule a docent-led tour for groups of six to forty people, call 202-994-5578 at least four weeks in advance.

Join or Donate Support from members and donors is the driving force that allows the museum to continue its work bringing art, history, and culture alive for the GW community and the public. To join or renew a current membership, or to make a donation, visit museum.gwu.edu/support or call 202-994-5579.

Stay in Touch Follow the museum online for more information about works on view, programs, and behind-thescenes activities. @GWTextileMuseum TextileMuseum GWMuseum

Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies The reading room is open by appointment Mon, Wed–Thu: 11:30 AM–4 PM Please email washingtoniana@gwu.edu to make an appointment.

Textile-Museum.tumblr.com

Cover: Margaret Abramshe, Stranger in a Strange Land (detail), 2015.

The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum 701 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052 202-994-5200 | museum.gwu.edu

This exhibition is made possible in part through support from Roger and Claire Pratt, Eleanor T. Rosenfeld, and a partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

April 16 – September 4, 2016