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Rafiki; Friendship (in Swahili)

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-5261

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project; Cuesta Benberry Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

08.0080

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

2008:119.20

Object label:

Rafiki
Carole Harris
Detroit, Michigan
1992
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#2008:119.20

Essay:

Rafiki means friendship in Swahili and was made in honor of Nelson Mandela obtaining his freedom.

Carole and I have also been friends for a long time. She was the first African American quiltmaker that I knew who made Art Quilts. She has never made any other kind. She has always been an original quilt artist, influenced perhaps by her training. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Wayne State University, but she preferred to work with fabric instead of painting. – Cuesta Benberry, information that was with the quilt collection.

By Mary Worrall, from the exhibit Unpacking Collections: the Legacy of Cuesta Benberry, An African American Quilt Scholar.

Quilt's title:

Rafiki

Subject of the quilt:

Nelson Mandela's freedom

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Friendship (in Swahili)

When was the form filled out?

4/22/08

Quilt top made by:

Harris, Carole

Quilted by:

Harris, Carole

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Detroit

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1992

Why was the quilt made?

Art or personal expression; Gift or presentation

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Detroit

Quiltmaker's county:

Wayne

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1948

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

African American

Quiltmaker's educational background:

Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Commercial interior designer, graphic designer, and owner of a gallery specializing in Third World and Diasporic artifacts.

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

African American

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

35"

How long is the quilt?

35"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Black; Gold; Green; Red

Overall color scheme:

Dark colors

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Type of inscription:

Signature; Date

Describe the type of inscription:

Title

What is inscribed on the quilt?

"Rafiki" C. Harris

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1992

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Location of inscription:

on back

Describe the quilt's layout:

Nontraditional or art

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Describe the back:

Back art/design on quilt back

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Edges turned in/ no separate binding

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cannot tell

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

5

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

5

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

In-the-ditch; Single parallel lines

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

Made in honor of Nelson Mandela obtaining freedom.

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Source of the information on this quilt:

MSU Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

This quilt was collected by Cuesta Benberry to further her research on quiltmaking and/or African American quiltmaking. Her son donated the collection to the Michigan State University Museum when she passed away in 2007.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

The quilt was made to be used for:

Artwork/wall hanging

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

From Cuesta, "Carole and I have also been friends for a long time. She was the first African American quiltmaker that I new who made Art Quilts. She has never made any other kind. She has always been an original quilt artist, influenced perhaps by her training. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Wayne State University, but she preferred to work with fabric instead of painting. Over the years I have learned to love this perfectly matched couple, Carole and Bill. He is a playwright and she is a quilt artist, both of them in the Arts."

Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:

Carole Harris became interested in quilting because it seemed to be a "non-intimidating art form." What started as a "fun" craft project for her has grown into a serious avocation. Like traditional quiltmakers, Harris works with fabrics that she has on hand; she thinks of herself as a collector of fabrics first, and as an artist second. She made a quilt for her marriage. Harris usually approaches a quilt or project with a sketch, "but it sometimes controls itself, it takes over and becomes what it wants to become." Harris is grateful for her strong art background because it helps her to see the designs in things. "I see quilts everywhere. In something as unlikely as a flower, or in architecture. You can look all around you in nature for color schemes, you don't have to be original, there are a lot of things already done for you. I'm very attractive to linear elements, and I see those lines everywhere." Harris is fascinated with what occurs when she plays with pattern and color. She describes her art as "painting with fabrics" because she uses color in the way that a painter would. Her favorite color for quiltmaking is black because it makes all the other colors look so vibrant. Harris works mostly with the string pattern because it is so amenable to the mixing of fabric and color. "The process of making a quilt is like the art of a jazz musician-they start with a melody and improvise from there. Both jazz and quiltmaking are spontaneous, putting little bits of things together to make a complete piece of art. Carol Harris is an interior designer in Detroit. She revealed that Rosa Parks was a quiltimaker in addition to being a noted civil rights pioneer, heroine and activist. Mr. Harris met Rosa Parks, who said, "Everybody was a quilter, but they were useful." This meant that the quilts were useful objects and that everyone they knew made them. When Rosa Parks died, people came forward to agree.

Who photographed this quilt?

Pearl Yee Wong

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees

Cite this Quilt

Harris, Carol. Rafiki. 1992. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project; Cuesta Benberry Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-5261. Accessed: 03/29/24

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