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Art Exhibitions
Tickets are $10 for admission to all galleries • No charge for Four Arts members The Four Arts app ■ www.fourarts.org ■ boxofficestaff@fourarts.org ■ (561) 655-7226
Rare book and history aficionados will enjoy In God We Trust, Early Bible Printings and Founding Documents from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection, an extraordinary exhibition of historic American Bibles, religious texts, and founding documents, many of which have rarely been displayed. The art exhibition, which opens November 14, features 18 books and five of America’s founding documents from the Americana Collection of Mr. Rubenstein, a prominent American businessman and philanthropist. Organized by the New-York Historical Society in collaboration with Mr. Rubenstein’s library consultant, In God We Trust presents the stories of these books and printed documents and the ingenuity and diversity of the early Americans who made them.
“These objects are living artifacts of history,” said Rebecca A. Dunham, The Four Arts’ head of fine arts and curator. “All these about the first two centuries of our nation’s history and the diversity of religious beliefs of the early Americans who settled this country.”
In the American colonies, it was the Bibles and other sacred works printed, sold, and purchased by settlers that were treasured above
ON DISPLAY
Saturday, November 14 through Sunday, January 17 and Saturday, January 30 through Sunday, February 28 East Gallery, Esther B. O’Keeffe Building, 102 Four Arts Plaza
DAYS AND TIMES
Monday, Wednesday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday - open to Four Arts members only: 1 to 5 p.m.
TICKETS
$10 (includes Ubuhle Women); no charge for Four Arts members Reserve tickets through The Four Arts app, at www.fourarts.org, by calling (561) 655-7226, or visiting the Four Arts Box Office
Carey, Stewart, and Co., printers, The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate, Philadelphia, 1790, David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection.
all. In God We Trust features Bibles printed in several languages, including English, German, Hebrew, and Algonquian. The exhibition includes displays about letterpress printing and the art of bookmaking created by IS Projects, a public access printmaking and book arts studio in Ft. Lauderdale. “The cases will include antique tools and materials that explain how printmakers and bookmakers made the books and documents on display,” Dunham religious texts and documents talk
said. “Before the industrial age and machinery used in mass production of books, all of these objects were hand-made.”
Visitors will also hear music from one of the books, recorded by PBA’s School of Music & Fine Arts students. A self-guided tour, featuring high-resolution images and audio provided by Dunham, will be available for smartphones by clicking on fourarts.oncell.com, so please bring your headphones.
Ubuhle Women Beadwork and the Art of Independence
ON DISPLAY
Saturday, November 14 through Sunday, January 17 Main, North and South Galleries Esther B. O’Keeffe Building, 102 Four Arts Plaza
DAYS AND TIMES
Monday, Wednesday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday - open to Four Arts members only: 1 to 5 p.m.
TICKETS
$10 (admission includes In God We Trust); no charge for Four Arts members Reserve tickets through The Four Arts app, by clicking on www.fourarts.org, calling (561) 655-7226, or visiting the Four Arts Box Office
The five artists featured in the exhibition call their paintings in beads ndwangos, which translates as “cloth” or “rag.” The black fabric on which the Ubuhle women work is reminiscent of the Xhosa headscarves and skirts which many of them grew up wearing. By stretching this textile like a canvas, the artists transform the flat cloth into a contemporary art form colored with Czech glass beads.
“At first glance they may look like paintings or some type of collage from far away,” Dunham said, “and then when you get close up, you realize they are composed of all these tiny beads and every single tiny bead has been hand-sewn onto black cloth. Some people may think these beads are glued onto the canvas, but that is not the case.”
Ubuhle means “beauty” in the Xhosa and Zulu languages and it describes the shimmering quality of light on glass that for the Xhosa people has a particular spiritual significance. Using skills handed down through generations, and working in their own unique style “directly from the soul,” according to artist Ntombephi Ntobela, the women create abstract as well as figurative subjects for their ndwangos.
Ntombephi Ntobel, Tree of Life, 2006, glass beads sewn onto fabric “Some of these artworks can take over a year to make,” Dunham said. “The materials themselves are amazing — tiny, tiny little beads — and then you add in the hand-sewing and working with a lot of bold color, it all makes for an exciting show that should energize audiences.”
Tshengi Duma, Sthembile Majola, Nontanga Manguthsane, Nonhlakanipho Mndiyatha, Kalipha Ntobela, Ntombephi Ntobela, and Thembani Ntobela, The African Crucifixion, 2008, glass beads sewn onto fabric.
Ubuhle Women consists of 31 artworks along with black and white photos of the five artists featured in the show. The exhibition is accompanied by a video and a free souvenir Gallery Guide created by the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, DC. Visitors can also take a selfguided tour, featuring high-resolution images and audio provided by Dunham, on their smartphones by clicking on fourarts.oncell.com. Please bring your headphones to enjoy the tour.
Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence was developed by the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Washington, DC in cooperation with Curators Bev Gibson, Ubuhle Beads, and James Green, and is organized for tour by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.
