We Will Walk, an Exhibition at Turner Contemporary Gallery, Margate. Spring 2020 (by Maureen Rhodes)

When I heard that some Gee's Bend Quilts were on show for the first time in this country I was determined to see them as I had admired them for many years.  The quilts are shown as part of the We Will Walk exhibition, an exhibition of African American artists from the American South from the 1950s to the present day.  It shows a mixture of paintings, quilts, music, found materials, yard art, and photos.  The emphasis was on how they relate to the Civil Rights Movement during the 50s and 60s, many of the artists being involved in the movement.  The title We Will Walk came from the peaceful protest marches, including the one from Selma to Montgomery 1965.
Gee's Bend is a small isolated community in Alabama which lies on a spit of land surrounded by the Alabama River.  There was a ferry linking Gee's Bend with the nearest town of Camden but this was removed in the 60s to prevent residents from registering to vote and was not reinstated for 40 years.  Many artists have the surname Pettway.  This is because plantation owners used to name their slaves after their plantation name.
The quilts were originally made for home use and out of anything to hand but are now collectable items in their own right.  The pieces are thoughtfully placed to create improvisational and interesting quilts. 
Gee's Bend is now known as Boykin.              

Annie Mae Young - Bars 1965 'I like big pieces and long strips.' I stayed with what I started with: old clothes that I could tear up.'

Pearlie Pettway Hall 1908-2000 Medallion 1950s

'Baby Suggs takes on the slow-paced task of stitching together a quilt.  Kneeling in the keeping room where she usually went to talk-think it was clear to see why Baby Suggs was so staved for colour.  There wasn't any except for two orange squares in a quilt that made the absence shout … like life in the raw.' Toni Morrison from Beloved 1987

Louisiana Bendolph - Untitled 1960 'Once I start putting the pieces together, I'll see which direction the quilt is going. If I like it I keep sewing on it, If I don't like it, I'll cut it apart and redesign it.'

Annie Mae Young – Lazy Gal 2003, Denim, corduroy, sateen, cotton

Louella Pettway 1921- 2006 Log Cabin 4 Block c.1975 – Corduroy Louella was part of the Freedom Bee Co-op and made quilts to order using fabric supplied by US department stores.

Henrietta Pettway- 1894- 1971 Hog Pen Pole c.1925 4 Block Log Cabin Variation Cotton clothing and sacking

Loretta Pettway 1942- Bricklayer (local name for Courthouse Steps) . A bold improvisational style.

Mary Lee Bendolph 1935 - Basket Weave Variation c.1990, A free form quilt using salvaged materials to create rhythmic and unpredictable patterns inspired by the world around.Jeans, pants, sleeves of the shirt – the good part I could find of there – skirts, flower sacks, fertilizer sacks. Anything I could find – a scrap piece – I put in the quilt if Mama wasn't using it.'

 Polly Bennett 1922- 2002.  Two sided Blocks Quilt -c.1942,'I started making what I call a 'Get Together', just putting pieces together -any colour, any size.'           
 

Lonnie Holley 1994. Him and Her Hold the Root. 'Iwas trying to say I am the root. All my relatives is part of that root, and their spirit supports it.'

Purvis Young 1943-2010. Black People Migrating West – late 1970s 'I have painted a lot of boat people. I mostly see the boat people struggling. The war was going on then, war in Vietnam. My feeling was the world might be better if I put up my protests.'

Thornton Dial 1928 – 2016. Green Pastures: The Birds that Didn't Learn How to Fly – 2008 Cloth rags, rubber-coated copper wire, wire, screws, and enamel paint on canvas on wood His work covered a wide range of subjects from Civil Rights in Alabama to natural disasters and historical events. 'I been gone out there picking up a lot of pieces. Everything I pick up be something that done somebody good in their lifetime. So I'm picking up on their spirit.

Emmer Sewell 'I was raking in the yard. Found that old blade. Didn't have a handle to go on it – it's so rusty and all – and I say, I ain't going to throw you away; I'm going to sit you up there on that bush, like Davy Crockett, King of the wild frontier. That old axe stand for your knowledge, your background, where you come from, a person's history.'

'High John de Conquer went back to Africa but he left his power here, and placed his American dwelling in the root of a certain plant.' Zora Neale Hurston (1943) wrote of the black conjure root, named after the antebellum slave superhero trickster, John, who was a southern legend and foiled the wickedness and hardship if the slave owners.

Thornton Dial 2004. New Light – wood, twine, wire, caning, cloth, wire screen, cow bone, enamel, and Splash Bone compound on wood.'I always be looking to the future. I respect the past of life, but I don't worry too much about it because it's done passed. The struggles that we all did have, those struggles can teach us how to make improvement for the future. Art is like a bright star up ahead in the darkness of the world. It can lead people through the darkness and help them from being afraid. Art is a guide for every person who is looking for something. That's how I describe myself: Mr Dial is a man looking for something.'

Hawkins Bolden 'After losing his sight, he searched to hear. He is always looking for the sound place to please his spirit. He does that so others can see. Why fear what is within ourselves?' Lonnie Holley

Dinah Young 1932- . Dinah Young's Yard 2017 Dinah created an extensive site in the woodland around her home, making arrangements of natural and found elements. 'What she did there in the woods is called a 'quest path' – marking a spiritual direction, marking the parameters of a space of spiritual discovery.' Worth Young

Joe Minter - Monument to incarcerations during the Civil Rights demonstrations in Birmingham. Photos by Hannah Collins 2019

No Bus Shelters Kara Walker (1969 -) Paintings inspired by scenes in Atlanta where Kara grew up.

No Sidewalk

1963 - Fireman Hosing Demonstrators in Alabama. An unknown photographer who was probably white as he is sheltering behind the firemen.

1965 - Andrew Young, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Dr Martin Luther King Jr organised the 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

1968 The funeral procession of Dr Martin Luther King.

Civil Rights workers taught women reading, writing and maths. They also organised quilting coops, farming co-ops and rural health initiatives.

Diana Ross and the Supremes arriving at the funeral.