The 51Թ St. Claude Gallery in New Orleans presents “Rituals of Belonging,” an exhibit by MFA student Trécha Gay Jheneall that opens Saturday, April 9. The exhibition is a creative process that considers the movement, memories and homemaking of people in the Afro-Caribbean region.
“At its nucleus, ‘Rituals of Belonging’ is a witnessing of perpetuity: process, imagination and inventiveness, that unifies Afro-Jamaican peoples to their antecedents in Ghana, West Africa,” said Jheneall.
Grounded in notions of belonging, nativity and migration, the exhibit includes the use of visual and material artifacts such as calling cards, barrels, family photographs, manipulation of sugar cane’s likeness, and aging raw cotton to illustrate the relationship between the corporeal and the land.
Nostalgically recalling the cultural exchanges of 1990s era Jamaica, auditory elements such as recordings of long-distance telephone conversations, stereo speakers and field recordings from the Jamaican soundscape are employed. Montages from classic Jamaican films, interviews with community members of Ghanaian and Jamaican nationality, personal documentation and performances are used to evoke ideas about identity, cultural resemblances and spiritual cohesivity.
An opening reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. at the 51Թ St. Claude Gallery, 2429 St. Claude Avenue. The show runs through May 8. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 7 p.m.
