If you’re wondering why the exterior of the University of Michigan Museum of Art looks different these days, it’s the work of staff at the university’s Institute for the Humanities, who have stitched together hundreds of large jute sacks under the direction of artist-in-residence Ibrahim Mahama.
The massive, quilt-like panels have been used to cover 4,452 square feet of the exterior of the museum to create an architectural intervention Mahama is known for.
Mahama was not able to be on site for the installation of the exhibition, instead connecting with staff via Zoom and phone calls from his home in Ghana.
The project is the first outdoor exhibition of Mahama’s work in the United States. It’s part of a multivenue regional presentation that also includes a related installation at the UM Institute for the Humanities Gallery that can be viewed from a sidewalk window, as well as an installation inside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.
The UM installations took six months to plan and dozens of hours of measuring and sewing on site. Mahama incorporated materials from his prior works over the last decade that serve as a retrospective. They were shipped to Ann Arbor from Los Angeles, New York and Venice, Italy.
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Source: Quilt-like panels cover new University of Michigan Museum of Art outdoor installation – mlive.com
