Kith & Kin: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend come to Bath
This spring, the American Museum & Gardens at Claverton Manor, Bath presents Kith & Kin: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend (14 February – 21 June 2026), a major exhibition that sits naturally within the museum’s long-standing engagement with American quilts and material culture. Co-organised by the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, and Souls Grown Deep, this is the only opportunity to see the exhibition in the UK.
Sally Mae Pettway Mixon, Sweep, 2021, ©2025 ARS, NY and DACS, London. Photos by Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, courtesy Souls Grown Deep.
The American Museum is uniquely placed to host this body of work. Its collection of more than 12,000 objects spans American decorative arts, folk art and textiles, with over 250 quilts recognised as among the most significant in Europe. Ranging from the eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century, these works are shown throughout the museum, where quilts are understood not only as domestic objects but as expressions of history, creativity and lived experience. Within this context, the quilts of Gee’s Bend feel both familiar and freshly revealed...
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Image Credits:
Lead: Essie Bendolph Pettway, Platform, 2022. Photos by Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, courtesy Souls Grown Deep.
All further images as credited in photo captions.