Juxtaposing a range of historic and contemporary works, including Edgefield pottery, Gee’s Bend quilts, and Lowcountry ironwork, Middle of Somewhere: The Art and Legacy of Black Southern Makers—on view at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, through February 14, 2027—highlights the many underacknowledged craftspeople who have been significant to the development of American craft culture.
Just as powerful as the works on display is the way the museum presents them. Many of the pieces are surrounded or supported by wooden scaffolding, along with empty shelves and vacant cubbies scattered throughout the gallery to metaphorically “hold what is missing”—the innumerable objects made by Black makers throughout history that, for a long list of reasons, haven’t survived over the years.
“At the museum, we tell representative stories,” says Martina Morale, Director of Curatorial and Special Exhibitions and the driving force behind this collaborative presentation. “We can’t tell everyone’s story, but our hope is that you see a reflection of yourself, your family, your culture, knowing it was always there.”
Many of the pieces in Middle of Somewhere are surrounded or supported by wooden scaffolding, along with empty shelves and vacant cubbies scattered throughout the gallery to metaphorically “hold what is missing."
