Grand Vision

About this event

Visiting artist Olayami Dabls is a storyteller, curator, educator, and mentor. He is the founder of the MBAD African Bead Museum in Detroit. Through material culture, Dabls presents commentary on the past, present, and future from African and African-American perspectives, with the understanding that generations of African ancestors used visual materials to convey information about their identity as well as send messages for healing and protection. Dabls is a luminary; for decades he has re-imagined what a museum space can be, accessible to everyone, free from the underpinnings of colonialism and the Western, often white, frame. *Grand Vision* includes a conceptual installation in the Gallery, presenting Dabls’s own work in visual conversation with African beads and artifacts from Dabls’s Bead Museum collections. Additionally, Dabls’s iconic outdoor sculpture *Iron Teaching Rocks Table Manners* will be installed on the U-M campus grounds near UMMA, at the intersection of State Street and South University from September 17- October 11, 2026. The project’s range intends to more fully articulate the many facets of Dabls’ creative practice, and the overlay of art, history, identity, community, and healing.

Who

• Olayami DablsPerformer

Venue

The University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

The University of Michigan is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1817 and is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. It is also one of the earliest American research universities and is a founding member of the Association of American Universities. Read more on Wikipedia

Venue website

All events at The University of Michigan · All venues in Ann Arbor