Join us on Tuesday, October 12, at the Two Mississippi Museums for an exploration of quilting and storytelling with curator Mary Lohrenz and quilter Tammy McGrew. Inspired by the artwork in the Un(re)solved exhibit, Lohrenz will discuss master quilter Hystercine Rankin’s influence on narrative quilting today, and McGrew will discuss the quilting process and techniques. The program will also stream live from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Facebook page. A guided flash tour of the temporary exhibit Un(re)solved will follow.
Un(re)solved is PBS Frontline’s traveling augmented-reality exhibit on view now the Two Mississippi Museums. Drawing on more than two years of reporting, thousands of documents, and dozens of first-hand interviews with family members — as well as current and former Justice Department and FBI officials, state and local law enforcement, lawmakers, civil rights leaders and investigative journalists—the multi-platform exhibit examines the federal government’s effort to investigate more than 150 civil rights-era cold cases through the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act (Till Act).
Creative director Tamara Shogaolu used imagery of trees, which recall family ties, and patterns and textures from the American tradition of quilting to create the exhibit design. Among enslaved African Americans forbidden to read or write, quilts provided an important space to document family stories. Today, quilting remains a creative outlet rich with story and tradition for many American communities.