Recently, Michigan State University contributed to an important human rights project in Cape Town, South Africa.
The MSU Museum partnered with The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, as well as quilt artists from both South Africa and the United States, to launch an exhibition honoring the human rights efforts of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife, Leah.
Desmond Tutu played an influential role in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, and remains a respected advocate for human rights today.
“The Ubuntutu Legacy of Love and Action” exhibition was created by Desmond’s daughter, Mpho Tutu, to pay tribute to the ongoing efforts of her parents. The project consists of 30 square quilts made by South African and American artists, which Mpho says, “captured that their activism is driven by love.”
A video of the project’s unveiling in Cape Town can be found here.
In partnership with the foundation, MSU Museum curator Aleia Brown said she feels privileged to have worked on this project.
"It’s really a fantastic project that speaks to so many people,” she said. “When I found out that I was assigned to it, I was just overwhelmed because they’ve done so much for South Africa. But they’ve really done so much for the United States, too, because we understand their legacy and their role in human rights and their role in spirituality.”
