Vox Populi:

Folk artist and quilt maker Harriet Powers (1837-1910) was born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia. She was married at 18 and gave birth to nine children. Although she probably made quilts from an early age, records show that the first public display of her quilts occurred in 1886 at a cotton fair in Athens.

Nineteenth century quilt making was widely practiced by both European and African Americans, and most of the surviving quilts utilized the European style and motifs, combining British needlework techniques with German decorative traditions featuring bold geometric designs of repeating blocks in contrasting colors. Harriet Powers worked within this European American style, but she added unique features in which she depicted historical events and Bible stories using design elements resembling West African ceremonial textiles. Powers used a combination of hand- and machine-stitching along with appliqué to form small, detailed panels. She then organized these squares to unfold a larger story, much like a modern graphic novel. This “teaching style” of quilting has its roots in West African coastal communities, and her uneven edging of panels mirrored the complex syncopated rhythms of African American folk music. Through her quilts, she recorded legends and biblical tales of patience and divine justice. This use of appliqued designs to tell stories is closely related to artistic practices still carried on today in the republic of Benin, West Africa.

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