African art has never been frozen in time -- it is always changing. West Africa is the heartland of African textile production, and like other African art -- the textiles made in this region have been transformed and refigured over time. That creative wellspring is the inspiration for a new exhibition at the MSU Museum, "Threads of Change: The Transformation of West African Textiles," opening Jan. 18. From the Kente cloth of Ghana and mud cloth of Mali, to the indigo Adire cloth of Nigeria and printed cottons of Guinea, tradition and innovation are evident. The availability and use of new technologies and materials, the exposure to new design sources, changes in religious and cultural traditions, the ingenuity of individual artists, and commercial global market forces have all influenced the design, color, meaning, and function of West African textiles. This new MSU Museum exhibition includes examples of cloths that illustrate some of these changes.
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Location:	MSU Museum - Main Gallery [map]
Price:	Free
Sponsor:	MSU Museum
Contact:	pr@museum.msu.edu
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