/Museums
Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
Event WebsiteAbout
Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California traces the flow and flourishing of quilts in the context of the Second Great Migration. As millions of African Americans sought greater opportunities and escape from the South’s oppressive racial environment from 1940 to 1970, they carried quilts as functional objects and physical reminders of the homes they left behind
SF/Arts Curator Insight
Memory, ancestral knowledge and communal ties are themes of an exhibition where 100-plus quilts by roughly 80 artists illuminate the relationship between quilt-making traditions and the history of the Second Great Migration. During this period — around 1940 to 1970 — millions of African Americans emigrated from the southern U.S., seeking better economic opportunities and an escape from racial violence. About a quarter of the quilts were completed in the pre-1950 South; others were created in postwar California.
Anh-Minh Le
Contributing Writer
As the visual arts center at one of the world’s leading public research universities, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) brings the rich artistic resources of the UC Berkeley campus to the broader public. BAMPFA’s mission is to inspire the imagination, ignite critical dialog, and activate community engagement through art, film, and other forms of creative expression.
As the visual arts center at one of the world’s leading public research universities, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) brings the rich artistic resources of the UC Berkeley campus to the broader public. BAMPFA’s mission is to inspire the imagination, ignite critical dialog, and activate community engagement through art, film, and other forms of creative expression.