Plastic garbage bags hanging from the ceiling, edgy collages exploring female sexuality and animated movies.
These elements comprise the Nasher Museum of Art's ongoing exhibition "A Fantastic Journey," by Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu, the focus of the next "Art for All" event this Sunday, April 7.
The 2 p.m. free, public event is free includes a performance by the Duke African Dance Ensemble, guided tours through "A Fantastic Journey" and a hands-on workshop about multimedia collages.
The Nasher Museum of Art is the exhibition's first stop on its nationwide tour, the first of its kind in the United States. It will be on display through July 21.
Born in Kenya and currently working in New York City, Mutu's work focuses on the intersections of identity, sexuality and female representation in art. Although much of the exhibition contains multimedia collages, Mutu is also known for her videos and three-dimensional installations, including "Suspended Playtime," comprised of hundreds of black garbage bags hanging from the ceiling.
The Nasher's education curator Juline Chevalier, who helped the Student Advisory Committee organize the event, said Mutu's work lent itself particularly well to Art for All's hands-on programming. In addition, Chevalier said the African Dance Ensemble performance will connect Mutu's body of work to the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of black undergraduates at Duke.
"Mutu combines and juxtaposes images from daily life in really unusual ways," Chevalier said. "It's artwork that rewards careful looking. The more time you spend with it, the more you get out of it."
To facilitate "careful looking," Chevalier said gallery guides will encourage event attendees to discuss Mutu's artwork. Chevalier added that Art for Alls hands-on activities are designed to help students recognize the challenges of the artistic process.
"Because her work is very open-ended, it gives people the opportunity to discover on their own and be more comfortable with the dialog, discussion, and uncertainty that comes out of her work," Chevalier said. "I'm hopeful that with the hands-on activity, people can get a sense of how difficult it is to put together a collage. We want them to have fun with it, but we also want them to see how complex the artistic process can be."
In addition to connecting Duke students and members of the Durham community to Mutu's art, Chevalier said she hopes the event will connect these two communities to one another.
"Helping people learn about an artist they might not have known about is exciting for us," Chevalier said. "But above just having a good time, it's a good opportunity for the Durham community to see what Duke students are up to and vice versa."
For more information about the event, visit nasher.duke.edu/mutu/events.php. Additional information about "Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey" can be found at nasher.duke.edu/mutu/main.php.