Meet the Artist who Established the Only American Museum Dedicated to African Beads
- There are many African people working tirelessly to tell the story of the black race, and Olayami Dabls is one of them
- He is an African-American man who established the only museum in the United States dedicated to African beads
- Olayami, who has been been working as a visual artist for over four decades, started collecting beads in 1985
- The museum is situated in Detroit, Michigan; and instead of just appreciating the items, lovers of beads can purchase them
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A beautiful structure situated in Detroit, Michigan houses African beads and it is the only museum in the United States dedicated to these items.
The museum was established by Olayami Dabls who wanted residents to better understand the immense power of their African heritage, Design Indaba reports.
Source: UGC
Olayami is an African-American artist who started collecting beads in 1985, mainly sourced from Mali.
According to the artist, beads tell a story about black identity and history that connects communities across the world.
He said:
“Art has always been in the community long before it was put in museums. So that’s only a natural course of action to have the art available in the community, and the community to respond to it.”
Olayami has worked as a visual storyteller for over 45 years and has always been passionate about using his work to tell the stories of the African people.
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Nigerian artist makes sculpture with screws
In other news, a Nigerian man identified as Segun Akano is the only artist in the country that makes sculptures with screws.
Speaking with Legit TV, Briefly News sister site he said he decided to make sculptures with screws because he wanted to be identified with something unique.
According to Akano, the idea came to him in the middle of the night and he immediately acted on it.
Akano later found out that artists in other countries were also executing the idea.
He said Nigeria has not got to a point where art is totally accepted, adding that he wants artists to be more appreciated in the country.
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Source: Briefly News
Stefan Mack (Editor) Stefan Mack is an English and history teacher who has broadened his horizons with journalism. He enjoys experiencing the human condition through the world's media. Stefan keeps Briefly News' readers entertained during the weekend. He graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010 with a Bachelor of Education (BEd), majoring in History and English. Stefan has been writing for Briefly News for a number of years and has covered mainstream to human interest articles.
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
