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Museum of Art and Design at MDC Presents Germane Barnes: Ukhamba, Second in Annual Series of MOAD Pavilions
November 12, 2023 - February 24, 2024
The Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at Miami Dade College (MDC) presents Germane Barnes: Ukhamba, a new commission by the Museum and the second installment in an annual series of MOAD Pavilions. Designed by Germane Barnes, Miami-based artist, architect and educator, Ukhamba will be sited on the Building 1 Plaza at MDC’s Wolfson Campus during November 12, 2023–February 24, 2024 and on MDC’s North Campus from March 11 to May 26, 2024.
WHAT: Germane Barnes: Ukhamba
WHEN: Sunday, November 12, 2023, through Saturday, February 24, 2024 (Wolfson Campus)
WHERE: Building 1 Plaza, MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Avenue, Downtown Miami
MDC North Campus (exact location TBA)
ABOUT:
Named after a type of African woven-wood basket, Ukhamba is a 10-foot-tall circular structure built of curved wooden elements stacked in horizontal layers. Its construction, with four arched entrances, invites visitors to walk inside and congregate but allows the surrounding plaza and urban landscape to remain visible through the structure. Inspired by Barnes’s time working abroad in South Africa, as well as in Miami, Ukhamba not only responds to Miami’s sub-tropical climate but also unites architectural elements typical of diasporic communities of African and Caribbean origin. It comprises a pavilion that appears part basket, part traditional breeze wall.
Ukhamba is a space for reflection on our relationship to the built environment, urban design, its histories, and cultural memories. Barnes’s pavilion continues the artist’s exploration of themes of spatial identity, migration, the cultural influences of the African diaspora, and its contributions to classical architecture. Primarily using materials found in South Florida, the artist has focused on sustainability and has designed a structure in dialogue with the history and natural environment that surrounds it.
