In My Akuabaa Form

Copied Myrah Brown Green, In My Akuabaa Form, 2000, cotton fabric and cotton batt, 95 × 86 in. (241.3 × 218.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.19, © 2000, Myrah Brown Green

Artwork Details

Title
In My Akuabaa Form
Artist
Date
2000
Location
Dimensions
95 × 86 in. (241.3 × 218.4 cm)
Copyright
© 2000, Myrah Brown Green
Credit Line
Gift of Fleur S. Bresler
Mediums
Mediums Description
cotton fabric and cotton batt
Classifications
Subjects
  • Dress — Ghanaian dress
  • Dress — African dress
  • Figure — full length
Object Number
2023.40.19
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2023.40.19

Artwork Description

Myrah Brown Green
born 1956, Boston, MA
resides Brooklyn, NY 

In My ??Akuabaa Form 
2000
cotton fabric and cotton batting

The Akuabaa figure, a Ghanaian symbol of protection of mothers and their children, stands as the focal point of this quilt. Around it, triangles arranged into a quilting pattern known as “flying geese” conjure a sense of flight and freedom.

One of quilter Myrah Brown Green’s most cherished childhood memories is having dessert with her mother at the lunch counter of the Woolworth department store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This quilt honors the four Black college students from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University who made those memories possible.

In 1960, the students staged a sit-in at the segregated ?Woolworth's counter?? in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their persistent, nonviolent direct actions led to the desegregation of the lunch counter and generated a larger commitment to civil disobedience for civil rights. 

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.19, © 2000, Myrah Brown Green

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