Blankets and Quilts: Threads of Identity

What happens when our most intimate possessions end up in art museums?

Blankets comfort and keep us warm. They accompany us through our lives. They are keepers of some of our most intimate stories. We look at a group of artists who harness this power of blankets and quilts as totems for memory, community and cultural survival.

Guests:

Loretta Pettway Bennett, Gee's Bend quilt maker

Marie Watt, artist

Ally Barlow, associate conservator, Department of Textile Conservation, The Met

Louisiana P. Bendolph, Gee's Bend quilt maker

Louise Williams, board president, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy

Featured artworks:

Qunnie Pettway, Housetop, ca. 1975: https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/qunnie-pettway/work/housetop

Marie Watt, Untitled (Dream Catcher), 2014: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/849042

Louisiana P. Bendolph, Housetop quilt, 2003: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/654095

Annie E. Pettway, “Flying Geese” Variation, ca. 1935: https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/annie-e-pettway/work/flying-geese-variation

Willie "Ma Willie" Abrams, Roman Stripes quilt, ca. 1975: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/654081

For a transcript of the episode and more information, visit metmuseum.org/immaterialblankets

#MetImmaterial

Immaterial is produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Magnificent Noise and hosted by Camille Dungy.

Our production staff includes Salman Ahad Khan, Ann Collins, Samantha Henig, Eric Nuzum, Emma Vecchione, Sarah Wambold, and Jamie York. Additional staff includes Laura Barth, Julia Bordelon, Skyla Choi, Maria Kozanecka, and Rachel Smith.

Sound design by Ariana Martinez and Kristin Muller.
Original music by Austin Fisher.
Fact-checking by Mary Mathis and Claire Hyman.
Sensitivity listening by Adwoa Gyimyah-Brempong.

Immaterial is made possible by Dasha Zhukova Niarchos. Additional support is provided by the Zodiac Fund.

Special thanks to Eva Labson, Scott Browning, Curator Amelia Peck, and Avery Trufelman.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.