Ancestral Slave Cabin Workshop w/ artist Ife Franklin

Work with guest artist Ifé Franklin to create a slave “cabin/dwelling” structure that honors the lives of Africans/African Americans during enslavement in the American South. The cabins created are “wishes”, “gifts” or "alters" to the spirits of our beloved ancestors, who never had a home of beauty or a home of their very own.

Ife Franklin's practice involves several genres of art-making inspired by slave narratives, dreams, dance, song, and visions. Over the last decade she has been developing The Indigo Project which honors the lives and history of formerly enslaved Africans/African-Americans who labored to produce materials that generated the wealth of nations. At the center are Franklin's Ancestor Slave Cabins which often incorporate Adire fabric, an indigo-dyed cotton cloth decorated using a resist technique from the Yoruba culture. These assemblages are built in collaboration with the community and cultivate connections that promote understanding and healing from the hard history…