South Carolina State Museum Presents: Requiem for Mother Emanuel

The State Museum is proud to present, Requiem for Mother Emanuel opening, Saturday, Jan. 27. This visually moving and thought provoking exhibition, produced by South Carolina artist Dr. Leo Twiggs, is a series of nine paintings created in the aftermath of the violent shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in June 2015. Requiem for Mother Emanuel is a powerful culmination of Twiggs’ life’s work, and will be accompanied by a number of programs presented by the State Museum.

Twiggs began work on these pieces soon after the shooting. Painting provided a vehicle for the artist to process this awful event and search for meaning, as he continued working into 2016. The final series reveals his reflections on, not only the shooting, but also the aftermath including the responses of the family members, the church and fellow citizens.

In the days and weeks after the tragedy, Charleston’s Mother Emanuel received an outpouring of support, as visitors from around the world came to express their condolences and left handmade prayer quilts, letters, flowers and countless other items in front of the church. In conjunction with the exhibition of Twiggs’s work, the State Museum will exhibit some of these items from the church. Requiem for Mother Emanuel is also accompanied by a seven minute video, by Sailwind Pictures featuring Dr. Twiggs, and is an exploration of the context and inspiration for his work.

Symbols and signifiers of the South’s complicated racial history have been reflected in Twiggs’s work throughout his sixty-year career. Works of art can offer moments of transcendence and with the exhibition Requiem for Mother Emanuel, Twiggs provides such a moment. To help facilitate and explore guest’s reaction to the exhibit, the State Museum will offer Circles of Dialogue. These facilitator-led discussion groups will be held throughout the run of the show on selected Tuesday nights.