In this site-specific performance commissioned by the SCAD Museum of Art’s Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies, Swift contends with the agricultural knowledge and wounds of rice cultivation in the Lowcountry. Physically articulating the pluralities and complexities of the harvest in relation to enslavement, Swift transforms space into an altar to honor women’s labor and ancestral lineages of West Africa and the American South.

- Joël Díaz, Director of the SCAD Musuem of Art’s Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies

The performance, in collaboration with author and oral historian Trelani Michelle, Charleston-based sweetgrass basket weaver Andrea Cayetano-Jefferson, local seasoned drummer Majeid, and SCAD Performing Arts students Mukisa, Music Miranda, Janelle Odom, took place April 27, 2023.

Turning Seeds, Performance Mask
wool, Carolina Gold Rice, cowrie shells, mixed textiles
30 x 18 x 18
2023