Augsburg College is pleased to be collaborating with its Cedar-Riverside neighbor the East African Women's Center to present a selection of twined tapestries from the hands of Somali weavers.  The exhibition, "Threads of Community," which in Somali is translated "Dunta Bulshada iskuxirta," features colorful yarn weavings made by Somali elder women.  These weavers, who are refugees from the war in Somalia, are recreating an art they learned from their mothers and grandmothers as teenagers. The women were not able to weave during the years spent in camps because they did not have materials.  At the Women's Center, which has served as their "home away from home" since 2005, they are able to practice their art again, re-introducing designs that are thousands of years old and passing on the tradition to their granddaughters. Twined weavings have been used for hundreds of years in Somalia for baskets, bags, rugs, as decorations for homes, and saddles for camels and horses.

All are invited to the community receptions on Friday, November 16 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Christensen Center Art Gallery and and the East African Women’s Center.   Free transportation will be available to shuttle visitors to each location.  

All events are free and open to the public.

Christensen Center Art Gallery
22nd Ave. at 7th Street
Minneapolis, MN  55454
612-330-1524

Gallery Hours:
Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
(Closed over Thanksgiving holiday)

www.eawc.insourcemedia.com

Image caption:  Halimo (artist), Twined wall hanging with cotton warp and weft
Photograph by Doroth Mayer, Women’s Center Coordinator