Okra and Indigo
Azania Tripp
MAAHMG Artist in Residence
February 6 – March 30, 2024
The exhibition Okra and Indigo by artist Azania Tripp is a culinary storytelling art experience that shares the story of historical chefs within the Black/African American community and Black Minnesotan’s relationships with food. This show art exhibition is inspired by the book High on the Hog by Jessica Harris, and accompanying TV series by the same name. She is one of the artists in residency recipients at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery for 2023-2024.
Tripp is one of four 2023 MAAHMG Artist In Residence. Other artists in the program are Donna Ray, Shea Maze, and Nikki McComb. Each artist received a $12,000 stipend for supplies, materials, research, design and other activities or items necessary to create new works during the residency. The Artist In Residence program is designed to give support, opportunity and exposure to Black artists working in Minnesota to create new works exploring Black history, art and culture. Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the McKnight Foundation.
Okra and Indigo will be exhibited at the MAAHMG from February 6 (preview), 2024 and runs through March 30, 2024.
About The Artist
She is a Minnesota native and self-taught artist who spent the early years of her practice focused on creating mixed-media paper jewelry. More recently, she has been translating some of her work to a larger scale for galleries and exhibitions. Her work revolves around themes of storytelling, historical trauma, and how Afrofuturism and joy are pathways to healing. In 2022, Azania’s work was featured in exhibitions such as “Blood on the Pavement’”curated by Ashley Richardson, and “Notes on Healing” at Friedli Gallery. Azania uses her lived experience navigating her intersectionalities as a Black/African American, Singaporean Eurasian, Pansexual woman, and adult living with ADHD. She hopes people receive whimsical joy when interacting with her art. During her artist residency at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery (MAAHMG), Azania will create a new body of work and curate an interactive, visual art exhibition that showcases the stories of African American Minnesotans, their families, and the food they share. Azania will research how enslaved Africans brought with them to the United States a variety of foods which have become staples in African American cuisine and are a reminder of collective experiences and resilience. She will also explore through interviews with families how these dishes carry African American history and are a part of significant life moments.
