QUILT INDEX RECORD

31-27-197

Who documented this quilt?

South Africa Quilt History Project; Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela; The Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

South Africa Quilt History Project

South Africa Quilt History Project Number:

CHSLM327

Person filling out this form is:

Quiltmaker

When was the form filled out?

2014

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Nelson's Mandala

How wide is the quilt?

30"

How long is the quilt?

30"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Predominate colors:

Beige or Tan; Gray; Red

Overall condition:

Excellent/like new

Time period:

2000-2025

When was the quilt finished?

2014

Describe the quilt's layout:

Nontraditional or art

Subject of the quilt:

Nelson Mandela

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

Newspapers, tracing papers, fabric stiffener, cotton thread, glue

Embellishment techniques:

Embroidery

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine embroidery

How is the binding made?

Separate binding applied

Quilt top made by:

Gilks, Jeanette

Quilted by:

Gilks, Jeanette

Where the quilt was made, city:

Hillcrest

Where the quilt was made, province:

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Where the quilt was made, country:

South Africa

Quilt is presently used as:

Artwork/wall hanging

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Consceince of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela; International Quilt Conference Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 2014

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

MacDowell, Marsha; Mazloomi, Carolyn. Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela. Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, 2014; page 56.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Jeanette Gilks

Quilt owner's city:

Hillcrest

Quilt owner's province:

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Quilt owner's country:

South Africa

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

12/25/1953

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

South African (I think Ethnicity is irrelevant)

Quiltmaker's occupation:

mixed-media artist, drawing  

Quiltmaker's city:

Hillcrest

Quiltmaker's province:

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Quiltmaker's country:

South Africa

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

: I have co-ordinated my drawing group, ‘Garret Artists,’ for the last 35 years.

Description of quilt:

Jeanette Gilks
Nelson’s Mandala
Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | Newspapers, tracing papers, fabric stiffener, cotton thread, glue

Nelson Mandela’s death in December 2013 triggered the media’s floodgates world-wide and we all began to print the stories and the photographs of the man who had changed so many lives. I began to collect newspapers. Here were the ready-made stories of other people. Here was the material for my story.

I am intrigued with the relationship between words and visual images and what these different signs of things conjure up. What meanings overlap? What escapes the overlap? Perhaps a symbol - as opposed to a sign - points to things that escape absolute definition; escape any overlap, as a symbol expresses the inexpressible. A pun compacts different ideas and associations. Nelson’s Mandala, both a pun and a symbol, is thus a point of intersecting verbal, visual and conceptual ideas, the meanings of which are ultimately elusive. This overlaying of ideas is evident in the physical mechanics of collage: overlapping and gluing and sewing brings all the pieces together. Meaning can be constructed. Meaning is made by doing.

Who photographed this quilt?

Dion Cuyler

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

The copyright belongs to the owner/artist.