“Common Connections,” an exhibit featuring the artwork of Bernice Mitchell Tate and Andy Tate, opened Sunday at the Beach Institute African-American Cultural Center. The gallery, part of the 2013 Savannah Black Heritage Festival, is free and open to the public through March 31 at the center, located at 502 E. Harris St.
The Tates’ work celebrates Gullah-Geechee and broader African-American heritage by combining depictions of the past with modern elements.
“This is a way for us to memorialize and tell the story of people who couldn’t tell the story, and for people to understand what makes our culture the same or different than any other culture,” said Andy Tate. “Sometimes things out of the past will give us clues as to who we really are.”
Included in the vast exhibit are modernized broadsheets announcing slave sales, a hoodoo display and designs from Bernice Tate’s mother’s heirloom quilts incorporated into fashion accessories.
“... For us, it’s important to tell the story,” Andy Tate said. “So being a part of this heritage festival so that we can display these items and create conversation is very important to us.”
The Tates, who live in Bluffton, S.C., have published five children’s books since retiring in addition to creating artwork.
—Dash Coleman