South African quilts in Washington DC for Obama inauguration
South Africans Odette Tolksdorf and Elmine van der Walt each had a quilt selected for 'Quilts for Obama', an exhibition which celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the USA. The exhibition took place from January 11 to 31 at The Historical Society of Washington, DC. and was curated by Roland Freeman, a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution and folklorist, photo-documenter, and author of Communion of the Spirits.
The Historical Society of Washington, DC, the Women of Color Network and The Group for Cultural Documentation worked together to produce the exhibition.
Tolksdorf's quilt is called My Heart is Glad and was made in 2004 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of democracy in South Africa. The quilt contains South African shwe-shwe and Rorke's Drift fabrics.
www.tgcd.org
