BEADS IN CONTEMPORARY CRAFT

Executive Director, Jaimianne Jacobin joins artist Demetri Broxton and author Lois Sherr Dubin in a conversation about the history of beads and the use of beads in contemporary art for our Coffee & Conversation program on January 30, 2024.

"A bead means a prayer and when you put them together it's an act of prayer." - Demetri Broxton

Watch the event recording below and continue the conversation by commenting below with artists you know of using beads to break boundaries in contemporary craft and fine art.

---

About Demetri Broxton
Demeti Broxton is a mixed media artist of Louisiana Creole and Filipino heritage who was born and raised in Oakland, CA. His textile sculptures reflect his connection to the sacred art of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the beading traditions of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians, and his love of hip hop and graffiti culture. Broxton holds a BFA with an emphasis in oil painting from UC Berkeley (2002) and an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University (2010). His work has been exhibited internationally and most recently at SFMOMA Artists Gallery (2019), UNTITLED Art Fair (2020 & 2021), and Kala Art Institute (2021). His work is held in several private collections and the permanent collection of the Monterey Art Museum. 
​
About Lois Sherr Dubin
Lois Sherr Dubin is a curator and the author of the best selling book The History of Beads: 30,000 B.C. to the Present. This publication is a visually stimulating book that synthesizes the most important information known about beads from twelve world regions and examines the roles beads play in their cultural contexts. It has since been translated into four different languages and a revised edition, The History of Beads: 100,000 B.C. to the Present, was reissued in 2009. Dubin has also authored The History of Beads, North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: Prehistory to the Present and several books about master beads artists. In addition to her work in bead history, Dubin formerly spent a career in landscape architecture, she is a practicing jewelry artist and was adopted into the family of Jim Hart of the Haida Nation in 2006.
​

Big thank you to the Bead Society of Greater Washington for sponsoring this event and encouraging us to take a deeper dive into this topic.