In 2019, BAMPFA received a historic bequest of nearly three thousand African American quilts (and several hundred unattributed quilts). After five years of research, planning, and conservation, we are looking forward to Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, which opens June 7. This exhibition highlights stories of Black westward migration from the southern United States from 1940 to 1970 through the quilts and quiltmaking traditions that this generation carried with them. Through approximately one hundred objects representing the work of ninety individuals, the quilts in Routed West explore the medium’s unique capacity for connecting kin across time and space, holding memory and ancestral knowledge, and opening up space for beauty and ingenuity.

On the occasion of Black History Month, we’re excited to share a short excerpt from the catalog that will accompany the show and spotlight some of the important research being done to explore the histories of these objects. Stay tuned for more information about related programs and keep up with conversations around quilts’ joyful power as objects of African American cultural heritage and artworks that go beyond narrow definitions of art and craft.

Click to read an excerpt from the catalog for "Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California."