Sweetgrass Basketry with Henrietta Snype & Durades Dialogue with Jonathan Shodekeh Rose

Henrietta Snype will talk about the Gullah tradition of sweetgrass basketweaving, its 300-year history in America, its connection to Africa, and the enduring nature of the art form. One of Snype’s baskets is on view in Mia’s Charleston Room period room, where it tells the important story of Charleston’s dependence on enslaved West Africans’ indigenous knowledge of rice cultivation for commercial gain and nourishment—foreshadowing the legacy of African cuisine in the United States. Followed by a dialogue with Jonathan Rose.

A Native of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Henrietta Snype has been making sweetgrass baskets, a craft she learned from her mother and grandmother, since age 7. Henrietta tours the country educating and demonstrating her Gullah traditions.

Jonathan Shodekeh Rose, a Sierra Leonean whose ancestors were brought to the Carolinas as enslaved laborers works as a chemical engineer at 3M Co. He shares his knowledge about Gullah traditions of rice and indigo cultivation.

Co-presented with Obsidian Arts

$10; $5 My Mia members, free for members of African Art and Decorative Arts Affinity Groups

To register, call 612.870.6323 or click here to register online.