Exhibition Brief: Deep in the fields of southern Alabama, an unexpected crop has taken root. Bamboo is the engine behind new categories of renewable, resilient products. Growing a foot a day, this versatile material can be produced right here in America. AlaBamboo explores the breadth and versatility of this material by bringing together contemporary works from recent projects in architecture, sculpture, and design. Additionally, the exhibition functions as an epistemological experience, exposing bamboo’s importance to the economy and ecology of Alabama. Welcome to the Black Belt.
Brand Benefits: The exhibit, starting from its name, cements Alabama as America’s center for Bamboo. While walking through the living bamboo sculpture, TV screens fastened to the walls at various locations will show clips of Alabama’s Black Belt bamboo fields and warehouses. The clips will trace the scientific development of the plant, its eco-friendly attributes, the agricultural benefits for Alabama, and the process it undergoes to be used. All the bamboo in the living sculpture, which will be created by the Starn brothers, will come from Alabama. The living sculpture will begin by encasing the staircase in the main entrance and will grow each day of the exhibition into the radiating halls and exhibition rooms, symbolizing the growth Alabama will experience from this budding material. The Starn brothers will be in residence for the duration of the exhibition and the sculpture will only be completed at the closure of the exhibition, demonstrating its continuous potential. In the gift shop, visitors will be able to take home a piece of the local wonder by purchasing bamboo stocks and plants made from real Alabama bamboo, as well as black belts with bamboo clasps. Also, the museum will host workshops and tutorials to create small bamboo products such as coffee coasters, picture frames, and other simple products.
