Kapwani Kiwanga Moor, 2022 Fabric, pigment, Atlantic sea salt Work: 122 x 122 cm
In a sequence of quilt works created out of fabric treated with pigment and saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean, Kiwanga continues her investigation into the transatlantic slave trade. For the artist, the sea is an archive and witness of violent pasts. The cloth work combines and materializes her analysis of forced movement and liberatory strategies. Kiwanga’s use of symbols on textiles alludes to the safe houses along the Underground Railroad, often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill as a mode of communication. The geometric shapes function as conceptual coordinates of flight, escape and safety —by reading the motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could assess immediate dangers. Various triangles, pointing upward, or to the right or left, indicate the direction towards safety whilst a black square indicates a place of safety and rest.
