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Donnette A. Cooper
Donnette A. Cooper
BIO
Donnette Cooper is a practicing attorney and a textile artist whose quilts have been exhibited at the United Nations, Geneva; the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery; the Historical Society of Washington; American Craft Museum, New York; Scuderie Aldobrandi, Rome; and Museum of the Americas, D.C. Cooper’s quilts are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Black Civilisations, Senegal; and Liberty Hall, Jamaica. Cooper’s work is published in "Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts"; "Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama"; and, "We are the Story: A Visual Response to Racism". Cooper’s art practice is archived in the “Save our Stories” oral history project at the Library of Congress. Cooper designs wearable textile art which has been featured at Caribbean Fashion Week, Jamaica.
STATEMENT
“Nana of the Maroons” celebrates the Jamaican National Heroine who in the 18th century led her people in wars of resistance against British imperialism. Born in Ghana, Nana sustained the fight for freedom of the Jamaican Maroons who escaped enslavement, establishing strongholds in the island’s mountainous interior. Maroons perfected the art of camouflage long before Europeans, deploying foliage to disguise themselves and lure their enemies to their death. The quilt incorporates a resonant Ghanaian symbol, the akoben, a wind instrument that broadcast martial messages over great distances. Social justice is the dominant theme of “Nana of the Maroons.” As a textile artist and a politically-engaged attorney, I translate my vision of reparatory justice into compelling art that travels over time and space, affirming female empowerment.
Nana of the Maroons
Social justice, manifested in female empowerment, is the dominant theme of “Nana of the Maroons.”
Donnette A. Cooper
Jamaica