Explore Gullah Culture in SL

At the newly-opened Sunrise Mansion and Gallery on Isla del Sol, you can chill while watching YouTube blues videos in the inviting landing area, or make your way downstairs to the opening exhibit of work by artist Indea Vaher. Vaher’s inspiration is Gullah culture, and like the Low Country, the Mansion and Gallery is warm and beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. Help yourself to the greens and black-eyed peas, gumbo, ribs, cornbread and pecan pie kept warm in the kitchen, but before you sit down to enjoy your sumptuous feast, be sure to ladle yourself up a glass of champagne punch. Indea has furnished the whole house with much care and attention to detail; each room really feels as if you have just stepped off the ferry from the mainland to enjoy the slower pace of life and the rhythms of the sea. Looking around, I really feel like I’ve stepped into my great-grandmother’s kitchen, with its freshly scrubbed checkerboard linoleum, the cabinets filled with shiny, gleaming glassware and simple, sturdy stoneware, the serving table covered with a clean oilcloth. Indea pays tribute to the creativity of the Gullah with the woven baskets on display in the kitchen; in RL, of course, such creations are put to practical use, as serving trays and for storage, as well as for aesthetically pleasing decoration. The paintings on display show vibrant, colorful portraits of the men and women of the Sea Islands going about their daily lives, shrimping, fishing, selling and buying in the market, gossiping and playing music under the moss-covered oak trees, airing out homemade quilts, and working in their gardens, or dancing in the moonlight. Vaher provides visitors with an informative notecard that introduces visitors to the history and culture of the Gullah people as a distinctive African retention, and she invites all visitors to sit down by fireplace in the parlor or chat with a friend on the balcony overlooking the beach. A display in the side yard reminds visitors to the Mansion that the Gullah historically cultivated indigo and made their own dye to create the batik fabrics that the area is still known for, and in the front yard, a display informs us of the major role that the Gullah played in survival of the European and African settlers in South Carolina by cultivating the rice that is still a staple of the cuisine there (as it is in New Orleans, in the Caribbean, and along the West African coast). Sunrise Mansion and Gallery tells the story of some of the cultural traditions that connect people of the African Diaspora.