The traveling exhibit “Indigeaux: Yes, Spirit. I’ll go …” recently arrived at the Whitney Plantation in Wallace. Created by Leia Lewis, an educator, artist, and self-described “light-bringer” and “cultural architect,” the exhibit features hand-dyed textiles and original artwork conceived as “an offering to the enslaved women whose hands were stained blue with indigo,” she says.
On view through December 31, the exhibit supplements a permanent installation that recalls indigo’s role in the plantation’s history. In the 18th century, indigo was a major export for Louisiana farmers, as European textile makers coveted the blue hue.
The Whitney is known for telling the plantation’s history through the lives of the enslaved people who worked there.
“This indigo crop that was grown in Louisiana was made possible by the labor and the cultural genius of African people who were growing this plant back home,” Lewis said. “Back in Africa, already there were vast, ancient traditions of indigo dying and indigo textiles and healing with indigo as a spiritual tool as well, as a medicinal tool of midwives. And so, these people who were extracted, stolen, imported and brought to colonial Louisiana had vast knowledge. They were wise people, and so they brought that expertise to what would become our state. And thus an empire, for some, was born.”
Find print and podcast coverage of the exhibit here and here. Photos by Amy Marquis, courtesy of Whitney Plantation, are above and below.
