Regatta launches ‘Mami Wata’ exhibition
An afternoon of wind-powered water fun on Lake Mendota will celebrate the upcoming exhibition “Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas.”
Painted sail by artists Angela Richardson and Nancy Selfridge on display at the Chazen Museum of Art.
The Mami Wata Regatta will feature sails painted by community artists and art organizations and will conclude with a parade of lighted boats. The regatta will take place from 3–5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Memorial Union Terrace.
It was organized in conjunction with Hoofers Sailing Club and sponsored in part by Madison Gas & Electric to highlight the importance of wind power. Rain date is Sunday, Oct. 5.
The regatta was initially proposed by exhibition curator Henry Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Department of Art History. He is also a sailor. Intended to remind people about the importance of our own water resources, the event also provided area artists with an opportunity to create their own water-spirit-inspired artworks. Hoofers Sailing Club donated sails and will provide sailors for this lake-faring afternoon. Chazen staff, with the help of professor Leslee Nelson in the Department of Art, invited artists to participate. Those who painted sails include Brenda Baker and Bird Ross; Elizabeth Doyle; Henry Hawkins; Sharon Kilfoy; Laurel Lee; Madison Children’s Museum students under the direction of Katharine Goray; Angela Richardson and Nancy Selfridge; and Sonia Valle.
Beautiful and seductive, protective yet dangerous, the African water deity Mami Wata (pidgin English for “Mother Water”) is often portrayed as a mermaid, a snake charmer or a combination of both. She and related African spirits dwell in rivers, seas and other bodies of water. Traditional and now contemporary art has been created to celebrate Mami Wata, and this exhibition explores 500 years of the visual culture and history devoted to her, inspired by her and created in honor of the essential, sacred nature of water.
“Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas” brings together masks, altars, sculpture, paintings and more from west and central Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil and the United States. It demonstrates the pervasiveness of water deities, the centuries-long centrality of water and its spirits to the lives of people across many cultures, and the imagery’s relevance and adaptability in an ever-changing world. “Mami Wata” will be on view at the Chazen Museum of Art from Saturday, Oct. 18–Monday, Jan. 11. The regatta is the first of many special events celebrating this exhibition.
For more information, visit the Chazen Museum of Art.