‘Daufuskie Memories’ closing Sunday – in Southern style

“Daufuskie Memories,” a highly touted exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art, closes Sunday, and it’s getting an authentic South Carolina Lowcountry send off.

Which of course means food and drink are involved.

“Tour and Tasting: Lowcountry Style” offers visitors one more chance to see “Daufuskie Memories,” with a beer tasting paired with a Lowcountry boil by Fancy That Bistro.

The program begins at 6 p.m. and costs $32 for museum members, $40 for non-members.

“Daufuskie Memories” features more than 60 photographs of the island and its people taken by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe.

“What’s amazing about this exhibit is that it is a South Carolina story,” said Joelle Ryan-Cook, deputy director/director of external affairs for the Columbia Museum of Art.

From 1977–1982, Moutoussamy-Ashe, widow of tennis great Arthur Ashe, photographed African-American life on Daufuskie Island, where the Gullah lifestyle, traditions, and language were preserved because of the isolation of the island's residents.

“Jeanne was there when it was still untouched,” Ryan-Cook said. “She met the members of the community and the people trusted her. She touches on the history of people, and the history of place.”

The exhibit has been on display since May 27.

“Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe’s photographs of Daufuskie Island show us the power of art to preserve moments in time now lost to us,” chief curator Will South said. “Through Jeanne’s exquisite lens, we may visit the place and people that once inhabited an island that has, like all places, moved into a 21st-century world. Through her art, we may feel the rhythm and pulse of this bygone era and appreciate the beauty of Gullah life on Daufuskie.”

The museum is at 1515 Main St.

Lezlie Patterson, Special to The State

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 12:00 PM.