Ella Diers, Editor-in-Chief
The Logan Museum marked the opening of its newest exhibit with a talk from assistant curator Leeann Ream on Thursday, March 21, in the Shaw Gallery. The exhibit, titled “On This Ground,” featured eleven pieces of embellished textile from the collection of Roland Freeman, a photographer and collector who passed away just last year.
Ream, Center for Collections Care Postgraduate Fellow at the Logan, chose 11 textile pieces from Freeman’s collection to display. Within this, nine different art cooperatives from around the world are represented.
“Each has their own unique story to tell,” said Ream. The name of the collection, “On This Ground,” stems from the multiple definitions of the word “ground,” meaning both the place we live in, as well as the background of a textile piece. The pieces in this collection represented female artisans, and as Ream said, centers “Women’s work in textiles in a conversation about empowerment.”
Each of the embroidered textile pieces showcases how women advocate for their communities through weaving, embroidery, and sewing. One of the pieces, from the Maoul Embroidery Project collective in South Africa was about bringing awareness to AIDS and helping to destigmatize it. The embroidery is a way to talk about controversial and taboo topics that aren’t usually talked about.
The pieces also bring about women’s empowerment as a way to generate income, or as a way of active resistance. Palestinian artisans use the cypress tree in their work, a symbol of life in Palestine.Freeman laid the groundwork for this exhibit through his life-long collection. Ream, with her background in feminist research, felt a connection to this collection. “While I am at the Logan Museum, this is the collection that came,” she said, reflecting on the timing. The collection was offered to the Logan Museum shortly after Ream arrived and was built and brought to the public in a short period of time, which is unusual for museum collections.
“I will also say, I am very lucky to be working with so many women students and colleagues, and mentors,” said Ream. “It was really encouraging to me.”
Featured Image Credit: Beloit College, Roland Freeman Collection
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