9th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition
through December 17, 2006

The University of Mississippi Museum is hosting the 9th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition organized and toured by the University of Hawaii through December 17. The exhibition features 82 sculptures small enough to fit into a shoebox by artists from around the world.

With a desire to see the work of sculptors from around the world, Mamoru Sato and Fred Roster, professors at the University of Hawaii at Mänoa, developed the exhibition concept for The International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition. Because of the often large and awkward nature of sculpture, national and multinational exhibitions are cumbersome and costly. Thus, the small format of these exhibitions, with the subsequent ease and economy of handling, provides broader exposure to contemporary sculpture. The first triennial Shoebox exhibition was held in 1982. An invitation-only exhibition, this triennial has attracted a large number of well-known artists from the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, Norway, The Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Each sculpture speaks for itself. Some works are conceptual, some reflect the artist's cultural heritage and others are universal in expression. Collectively the sculptures are a powerful commentary on the state of humankind at the end of a century driven by industry and technology and at the beginning of a new millennium that is already marked with strife, uncertainties, and tragedies.

To create their sculptures, artists have used almost every imaginable medium. Cast metal, carved wood, blown glass, woven fiber, paper maché, molded clay, found objects, glass beads, feathers, and human hair have been components of Shoebox sculptures.
 
This exhibition is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Department of Art and Art History and supported by grants from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaii and by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Watumull Grant for Museum Studies in the Arts.