Patterns Unbound
Shadow Puppet Theater and African-Print Fashion on the Global Stage
African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style
African-Print Fashion Now! introduces guests to a dynamic and diverse African dress tradition and the international fashion worlds it inhabits: “popular” African-print styles created by local seamstresses and tailors, international runway fashions, and boundary-breaking youth styles favored in African’s urban centers. The story begins with the early trade of European machine-made copies of Indonesian batik and the subsequent marketing of colorful, boldly designed cotton print cloth to a West African clientele. Ms. Quick’s presentation concludes with an exploration of works by contemporary artists who incorporate African print to convey messages about identity, hybridity, and aspiration.
Wayang Earth Synopsis
Step into a world of shadow, sound, and magic in "Wayang Earth?!," an otherworldly shadow puppet theater production of intricately designed puppets and one-of-a-kind homemade musical instruments inspired by Balinese shadow theater. “Wayang Earth?!” tells the zany, comedic fables of mythical dual creatures who grapple with extraordinary challenges in a realm constantly altered by magical forces. Operating the twenty-plus stick puppets in the “Wayang Earth?!” production is solo puppeteer Katie Harrell, who uses a wide range of voices to bring the characters to life. Accompanying the play is the Harmonic Drift ensemble of gongs, bells, and found object instruments, led by Dan Bales, creating an immersive sensory experience that transcends the ordinary.
Click here to purchase your tickets (includes food and drinks)
Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa Street, San Francisco
Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served at 4 pm, followed by the concert. Desserts are offered after the concert.
Performers
Betsy D. Quick, African Textile Scholar
Betsy D. Quick is the retired director of education and curatorial affairs at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She was responsible for developing exhibitions and school and teacher services for both K-12 and university audiences. She has authored a number of publications and articles on the teaching of world arts and humanities. Under her direction, Fowler’s education department was awarded a prestigious award by the Los Angeles Unified School District for the outstanding services and resources it made available for Los Angeles area teachers and students. Quick curated a number of recent African art exhibitions at the Fowler including Mandela for President: South Africa Votes for Democracy and Yards of Style: African-Print Cloths from Ghana. She was co-curator of ‘How Do You See This World?’: The Art of Almighty God and project director/co-curator of Fowler’s traveling exhibition project, African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style. Her curatorial work has taken her to South Africa twice and to West Africa on three occasions.
Katie Harrell, Shadow Puppet Artist
Katie Harrell is a performer, musician, and shadow puppet artist whose creative journey has been shaped by her deep immersion in Balinese traditional arts. Katie's artistic odyssey into shadow puppetry began as a Fulbright Researcher in Bali in 2015, immersed in studying traditional Balinese vocal music, where she was introduced to the rich vocal music tradition of wayang kulit (Balinese shadow theater). She has studied with esteemed puppeteers I Nyoman Sumandhi, and I Made Juanda and has performed wayang kulit as a shadow puppet master with Gamelan Sekar Jaya and as a vocal accompanist with Larry Reed of ShadowLight Productions. Katie is the lead artist and solo puppeteer of “Wayang Earth?!” She earned her MA in Music Composition from Mills College, where she studied Javanese gamelan with Daniel Schmidt, and composition with Zeena Parkins, Fred Frith, and Maggi Payne.
Dan Bales, Instrument Builder, Composer
Dan Bales is the artist behind Harmonic Drift, part-instrument ensemble, part-sound art installation that merges homemade instruments and found-object creations into a mesmerizing symphony, all underpinned by the tunings of Balinese gamelan. Dan wears multiple hats as an instrument builder, composer, musician, and percussionist. He is the former, longtime director of Gamelan X, a group known for their creative take on music for gamelan baleganjur, a form of processional Balinese music. His pieces have been performed with Gamelan Sekar Jaya and has collaborated with Balinese composers to create new works combining gamelan and electronics for the Bali Spirit Festival. In 2015, Dan was awarded a Burning Man Arts Honoraria for “Reflective Resonance,” a participatory sound art installation at Burning Man of homemade aluminum gongs, which are now part of the Harmonic Drift pantheon of instruments. Dan earned his BSS in Music Composition from Cornell College, where he studied composition with Dr. James Martin.