Visiting artist Olayami Dabls is a storyteller, curator, educator, and mentor. He is the founder of the MBAD African Bead Museum in Detroit. Through material culture, Dabls presents commentary on the past, present, and future from African and African-American perspectives, with the understanding that generations of African ancestors used visual materials to convey information about their identity as well as send messages for healing and protection. Dabls is a luminary; for decades he has re-imagined what a museum space can be, accessible to everyone, free from the underpinnings of colonialism and the Western, often white, frame. Grand Vision includes a conceptual installation in the Gallery, presenting Dabls’s own work in visual conversation with African beads and artifacts from Dabls’s Bead Museum collections.
Additionally, Dabls’s iconic outdoor sculpture Iron Teaching Rocks Table Manners will be installed on the U-M campus grounds near UMMA, at the intersection of State Street and South University from September 17- October 11, 2026. The project’s range intends to more fully articulate the many facets of Dabls’ creative practice, and the overlay of art, history, identity, community, and healing.
Additionally, Dabls’s iconic outdoor sculpture Iron Teaching Rocks Table Manners will be installed on the U-M campus grounds near UMMA, at the intersection of State Street and South University from September 17- October 11, 2026. The project’s range intends to more fully articulate the many facets of Dabls’ creative practice, and the overlay of art, history, identity, community, and healing.
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