Exhibit of ‘Coloured Pots’ opens Feb. 22

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will host Fileve Tlaloc’s exhibition “Coloured Pots: izikhamba kwamaKaladi” from February 22 to March 22. 

The exhibition opens with a free public reception at noon Feb. 22 in the KOA Art Gallery in Blaisdell Hall. The exhibit will stay in the gallery until March 22. Gallery hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

Tlaloc’s art in this exhibition consists of a series of pots enriched with photographs from her family archives alongside text unpacking the term “coloured” as it is used in South Africa to refer to those who are neither European nor African.

The pots themselves are derived from the style of pottery traditionally crafted by the amaZulu people. Explaining her thought processes in her personal website, Tlaloc says this exhibition was inspired by her doctoral dissertation about Coloured identity formation in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. She paired printed words and family photographs “to show the real-life implication of racial ideology and laws that sought to separate people based on pseudoscience.” 

Pitt-Bradford is the fourth stop for the exhibition, which has also been shown at the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, N.Y., the African American Museum in Dallas, and the Churchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, N.Y. 

As a multi-media artist and anthropologist, Tlaloc explores the emotional and physical human conditions across cultures, races, and genders through drawing, painting, mixed media, and ceramics. In her words, “The work I create attempts to portray clear narratives to the audience.”

Growing up in a multicultural, multiethnic family, Tlaloc was surrounded by a myriad of cultural symbols and interpretations of life. That’s made especially apparent in her artwork, where Native American and African cultural iconography can be seen across her various pieces. 

Tlaloc has lived and worked in China, South Africa, and Latin America. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from City College in Harlem, N.Y., where she stayed for a few years to teach art and history at an alternative public school in Harlem. Then, channeling her interest in history and culture, she began studying at Indiana University Bloomington to earn a doctoral degree in anthropology, all the while producing art. 

While pursuing her doctorate, Tlaloc traveled to KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, where she studied the formation of creole communities. This, as well as her Creole South African ancestry, plays into her exhibit. With her ancestry and expertise, her exhibition explores Creole racialization during and after the era of Apartheid in South Africa, focusing on the term “coloured” as a multifaceted word. 

Tlaloc has shown her artwork many times before. Her first was a repatriation project with her partner that worked to reunite Tuscarora people with photographs taken of their ancestors. That project was shown six times across Indiana, New York and the Tuscarora Nation. 

After completing her doctorate, she and her family moved to Western New York. “The move not only inspired my journey back into ceramic work but also challenged me to inform people about who I am,” Tlaloc says on her website. 

To see more examples of Tlaloc’s work, visit www.filevetlaloc.com or her Instagram page @fileve_tlaloc. 

This exhibition is presented by Pitt-Bradford Arts. See more upcoming events at https://upb.pitt.edu/life-at-pitt-bradford/pitt-bradford-arts.

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