Photography courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum
This Friday, October 28, the Saint Louis Art Museum hosts SLAM Underground: Vibrant, a party and cultural celebration keyed to the intriguing new exhibition, Global Threads: The Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz.
Like every edition of SLAM Underground, the event is meant to attract a “diverse, younger, culturally inclined audience to the museum,” explains Jessica Kennedy, an educator at Saint Louis Art Museum. “The experiences we present are adjacent to exhibitions.”
Global Threads examines how these lavish and intricate textiles, created in India beginning in the 17thcentury, made their way across the world—and how contemporary Indian artists are maintaining the practice today. The exhibition is produced by the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
Photography courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum
SLAM Underground: Vibrant riffs on the theme of the exhibition by highlighting the local Indian community, Kennedy explains. “Indian culture is very wide and diverse," she says. “We’re being aware of that and trying to highlight aspects of the culture.”
Expect to see the usual party elements common to all SLAM Underground parties—specialty cocktails, photo booths, scavenger hunts, and a prize wheel—as well as programming that is specifically Indian-inspired. An Indian dance troupe will be on hand, and DJ Blaze (a staple at local Indian weddings and cultural events) will be on the ones and twos. Guests can have traditional Mehndi body art applied, though using an alternative to the notoriously slow-drying henna pigment.
The hands-on crafting element of the event is well-timed. Guests can decorate glass votive candle holders. Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, started Monday, October 24.
SLAM Underground had been mostly monthly since 2014 but since returning from its pandemic hiatus, it will move to quarterly. The event, Friday from 7–10 p.m., is free. And while Global Threads is a ticketed exhibition, partygoers can enjoy it at no cost.
