Colours and Motion – Art Workshop with MAYA FREELON ASANTE in Lesotho, Africa

The Hub

December 30, 2013 · by merihyoky

On the 19th of December, 2013, Maya Freelon Asante – award winning artist and daughter of jazz musician Nnenna Freelon – held a one-of-a-kind art workshop in Morija, Lesotho. The workshop took place at Linotšing art studio, adjacent toMaeder House – one of the oldest recorded buildings in Lesotho – and involved 35 local youth between the ages of 4 -25.

Throughout the afternoon, young people were given the chance to discover and create with a range of materials. In the space of a few hours, Linotšing was transformed into a bustle of activity as the children discovered the myriad of exciting creations that could be made by combining paper, water and multi-coloured tissue paper. Finally, working together under Maya’s guidance, the children helped to glue and stitch together a quilt of tissue paper, which will be used by Maya and Nnenna in their multi-discipline theater project – Clothesline Muse – set to premiere in the US in April, 2014.

At the end of the workshop, as the children contemplated the final creation, Maya said to them: “with your hands, hearts and your energy, you have made art that is going to help your community.”

The workshop coincided with a fundraising concert titled A night with the King. It was held to benefit the renovation of Morija Scott Hospital, where Nnenna, invited by King Letsie III, was the headline performer. Auctioned at the concert were two collages, created by Maya and the group in Morija the day before, with proceeds also going to Scott Hospital.

More information about Maya Freelon Asante:

Maya Freelon Asante is an award‐winning artist whose artwork was described by poet Maya Angelou as “visualizing the truth about the vulnerability and power of the human being,” and her unique tissue paper work was also praised by the International Review of African American Art as a “vibrant, beating assemblage of color.” She was selected by Modern Luxury Magazine as Best of the City 2013 and by the Huffington Post’s “Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know“.

Maya has exhibited her work nationally and internationally including Paris, Ghana, and US Embassies in Madagascar, Italy, Jamaica, and Swaziland. She has been a professor of art at Towson University and Morgan State University. Maya has attended numerous residencies including Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Korobitey Institute and Brandywine Workshop. She earned a BA from Lafayette College and an MFA from the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

More info: www.mayafreelon.com | theclotheslinemuse.com | http://www.mortonfineart.com

photo credit: Meri Hyoky Photography

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Countdown to MAYA FREELON ASANTE’s Installation at Corcoran Gallery of Art

MAYA FREELON ASANTE’s Ubuntu tissue paper installation will be on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art starting this Wednesday, 18 July – Sunday, 22 July.  If you wish to catch a glimps of the artist in action, please walk by the main entrance on 17th Street this Tuesday afternoon. 

Her installation “Seedling” can be viewed at Morton Fine Art (see image below).  Dimensions and price variable & installation specific.  Enjoy!

Maya Freelon Asante, “Seedling”, tissue paper installation, dimensions variable

 

MAYA FREELON ASANTE’s Ubuntu Installation in Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Take It to the Bridge 7/18-7/22

MAYA FREELON ASANTE’s Ubuntu Installation in Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Take It to the Bridge 

July 18 – July 22, 2012

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ON DISPLAY at Corcoran Gallery of Art 500 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC 20006 **In the Performance Bridge inside the Corcoran’s glass entryway on 17th Street, Washington, DC. Open 10am – 5pm.

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Morton Fine Art (MFA) is pleased to announce artist Maya Freelon Asante has been selected to create an ubuntu tissue paper installation for the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Performance Bridge.

About MAYA FREELON ASANTE’s Ubuntu Tissue Paper Installation:

Baltimore-based artist Maya Freelon Asante creates a site-specific tissue paper installation around the outside of the Corcoran Museum’s performance bridge, giving the illusion of a weightless floating sculpture. The vibrant tissue will invite viewers to inspect the tissue sculpture closely as they enter the museum. Many will question the material, fragility and security of the artwork. The installation intends to push artist, artwork and audience.

About the UBUNTU Tissue Paper Installation:

Ubuntu is a classical African concept that means I Am Because We Are. This notion of togetherness and solidarity resonates through Asante’s sculpture, as the joining of the tissue paper illustrates the power of unity. Independently, a torn piece of paper seems insignificant, but once those pieces are combined with others, the force is overwhelming. By creating a monumental, vibrant, sculpture out of tissue paper Asante asks the viewer to acknowledge the fragility of humanity and the importance of working together towards a peaceful and harmonious existence.

About Take To the Bridge:

The Corcoran Gallery of Art and Washington Project for the Arts presents temporary exhibitions, performances, installations, and interventions in the Performance Bridge inside the Corcoran’s glass entryway on 17th Street for Take it to the Bridge.

Featured art work explores the concept of space and place utilizing the unique properties and location of the Performance Bridge. The work varies in its respective response to the collection, history, or architecture of the museum itself, to the city of Washington, DC, or find resonances with the Richard Diebenkorn exhibition which will be on view during the Take it to the Bridge series.