Chef Patrick Clark art chair by artist Azania Tripp at the Minnesota African Heritage Museum and Gallery in Minneapolis on February 6, 2024. Credit: Azania Tripp

This weekend’s Twin Cities art scene celebrates Black History Month with collage art highlighting the historical contributions of Black chefs, a short film navigating the Black queer experience, and an exhibition showcasing the abstract works of artists from African and Caribbean backgrounds. 

Collage art celebrates six Black chefs who redefined culinary history

The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery is hosting “Okra and Indigo,” an exhibit exploring Black culinary contributions through artist Azania Tripp’s collage pieces.

Raised in an immigrant household where resourcefulness was a way of life, Tripp found herself repurposing everyday materials in her artwork. “Having an immigrant parent, you keep everything,” she said. She collected discarded papers from coffee shops and transformed business cards into intricate earrings. 

“You know when you have that little feeling and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, that felt good,’ like the magic of creating something?” she said. “It made me feel full.”

The exhibition’s title reflects Tripp’s African American and Singaporean Eurasian heritage. Okra, a staple of Southern cuisine, symbolizes the contributions of enslaved people to culinary traditions. Indigo, a dye, serves to connect with her Asian roots, Tripp said. 

Inspired by culinary historian Jessica B. Harris’s book “High on the Hog,” Tripp brings to life the stories of six influential Black chefs, transforming antique chairs into canvases of culinary history. Among those figures are TV chef Patrick Clark; Southern cooking pioneer Edna Lewis; Ebony Magazine’s first food editor, Freda DeKnight; food scientist Sara Thompson; James Hemings, the first American to be trained as a chef in Paris, and enslaved chef Hercules Posey, who cooked elaborate multi-course meals for the first U.S. president, George Washington. 

“I hope people see a name on the chair and get curious and Google it,” Tripp said. “Part of our pursuit for healing is knowledge, and the more that we know about our history, the more we can learn about ourselves.”

The exhibition also features five community collage portraits capturing the narratives of individuals whose lives and culinary experiences have been shaped by their cultural heritage.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum will host “Okra and Indigo: A Meal and Wearable Art-Making Experience” from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 17. Catered by Chelles Kitchen Catering, the event will feature culinary dishes from the African diaspora, including jerk shrimp, jollof rice, fried plantain, and coconut cornbread. The event will also include a guided tour led by Tripp and a workshop where participants can create wearable art pieces. 

Date: Thursday, February 8 to March 30

Time: 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. 

Location: Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery, 1256 Penn Ave. N., Minneapolis

Cost: Gallery admission is free. Tickets for the February 17 event start at $25. Buy tickets here. 

For more information: Visit www.maahmg.org. 

A still from “All My Niggas Surround Me, and I’m Surrounded by All My Niggas,” directed by and starring Jai Stephenson. The film will be screened at Indigenous Roots in St. Paul on February 11, 2024. Credit: Elisabeth Schifrin

Short film explores Black queer identity

Indigenous Roots will host the screening of “All My Niggas,” a short film written, directed, and starring Jai Stephenson. Through diary entries, photographs, and introspective conversations with younger and older versions of themselves, Stephenson explores the nuances of the Black queer experience. 

“I really, really love films and cinematic pieces that show you something without having to feed it to you,” Stephenson said. “How often do we watch something and there’s certain people or certain identities that don’t have to explain who they are or why they’re doing this?” 

In the film, Stephenson navigates the past, reflecting on their identity as a former Christian and experiences at ages 8, 20, and beyond. They explore aspects of themselves they “wish [they] hadn’t lost” alongside those they are “happy [they] no longer carry,” Stephenson said.

“I intentionally approached [identity] in a way where I just put it out there as if it’s normal, because it is normal for me,” Stephenson said. “I want to normalize it for other individuals and expand our idea of the Black, queer, trans identity.”

Date: February 11

Time: 7 p.m. 

Location: Indigenous Roots, 788 E. 7th St., St. Paul

Cost: Free 

For more information: Visit instagram.com/amnfilm. 

“Ancestral Songs III” by Adama Delphine Fawundu, on display at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis through March 2, 2024. Credit: Provided by Delphine Fawundu

Abstract art from African and Caribbean artists

Highpoint Center for Printmaking is hosting “Flowing Abstraction: Contemporary African Diaspora Printmaking,” an exhibition featuring 24 abstract art prints by eight artists from African, Caribbean, and African-American backgrounds. 

The exhibition, curated by the diversity-driven art institution Brandywine Workshop and Archives, will showcase the works of Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, photographer Adama Delphine Fawundu, painter Tim McFarlane, and others. Their creative influences include dance, philosophy, politics, history, and ancestral heritage. 

Date: Friday, February 9, to March 2

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. 

Location: Highpoint Center for Printmaking, 912 W. Lake St., Minneapolis 

Cost: Free

For more information: Visit www.highpoint printmaking.org.

Myah Goff is a freelance journalist and photographer, exploring the intersection of art and culture. With a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and a previous internship at Sahan Journal,...