Sana Musasama | Walking Through the World, With My Heart in My Hands

VIRTUAL ARTIST TALK

Ceramicist and mixed media artist Sana Musasama presents excerpts from her life’s work and how that journey as an artist led her to Cambodia to work with women and young girls in rehabilitation in Phnom Penh, following being forced into the sex industry there.

Sana continues her humanitarian work in Cambodia and coordinates the Apron Project, a cooperative business based on the sewing skills Sana has helped the women to develop for themselves.

*This webinar was originally aired June 27th, 2020, 1-2pm Eastern Time via Zoom.

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Sana Musasama

received her BA from City College of New York, NY (1973) and her MFA from Alfred University, NY (1988). Musasama began traveling as a way to recover identity and cultural place. Clay was a geographical catalyst that brought her first to West Africa. She studied Mende pottery in Sierra Leone (1974-75) and ventured later to Japan, China, South America and Cambodia. She has continued her quest, expanding her interests to tribal adornment practices in various indigenous cultures. She is challenged by the concerns surrounding the safety of women, specifically the rituals involving rites of passage, female chastity and the “purification” of the female body. Musasama’s travels have transformed her and her approach to clay. Realizing that clay is universal, she believes that there is no dichotomy between her life and her work. Her trekking has taught her valuable lessons in observation, her mission speaks of a global citizen who walks through the artwork, heart first. Musasama’s work is informed by history, women’s studies, culture and her travel journal.