Sandy Islanders: A People of the Land, a traveling pictorial exhibit from McKissick Museum of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, will be installed in the Brookgreen Gardens Lowcountry Center from January 12 – March 22, 2015. It will be on display daily from 12 noon – 4:30 p.m. and is free with garden admission.
Curated by photo documentarian Vennie Deas Moore, the exhibit takes the viewer on a journey into the lives of individuals and families on Sandy Island, SC, one of three Gullah Geechee communities that remain accessible only by boat. The photographic collection, created in 1997, offers new interpretive text and historical artifacts that present an “insider’s” unromantic view of a place and people seldom seen. It portrays the interconnectedness of culture, the value of work, a sense of stewardship of the land, and the symbiotic relation between the long time black and white cultures.
“The exhibit documents an important story of our region,” said Bob Jewell, president and CEO. “It provides a captivating snapshot of an aspect of the living culture of Gullah Geechee people.”
Vennie Deas Moore will present a lecture about the exhibit on Saturday, January 24, at 1 p.m. The presentation, “Returning to Sandy Island: 20 years Later”, is free with garden admission and includes a guided tour of the exhibit.
Brookgreen Gardens is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and display American sculpture and regional plants, animals, and history. It is located on U.S. 17 between Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
photo credit Vennie Deas Moore