Join Suzanne Zahr Gallery and Clarke & Clarke Art and Artifacts Thursday night for Mercer Island’s monthly art and wine event.

Zahr teamed up with L+B Design to present the work of French-Serbian artist, Kosta Kulundzic, and Clarke & Clarke will feature an exhibit called “Women of the Ituri Forest.”

Clarke & Clarke will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, with libations and treats from 5-8 p.m. In addition to a limited collection exhibit featuring “a collection of beautifully painted geometric abstract designs on individual pieces of barkcloth each unique to the woman who painted them,” the gallery will be holding its “first time ever” furniture sale during October, according to a Clarke & Clarke press release.

The Ituri Forest, in the northeast corner of Zaire, is where the Mbuti people lived. Their art is “destined to be the legacy of a vanishing culture,” according to the release.

The semi nomadic people produced art that was easily portable. They created art and clothing from the bark of trees considered sacred, so the cloth was assumed to have protective qualities. The cloth was prepared from certain vines and pounded flat by the men, and it was the task of the women to soften the cloth and draw on it with a twig or finger.

The colors range from tan to brown, depending on the type of vine, and the color of the “ink” is usually black.

“Virtually unknown to westerners until the 1920s, these abstract drawings and sophisticated compositions embody the qualities of improvisation and syncopation,” according to the press release. “Each is a unique and vital form of expression and meaningfulness of the people who created them.”

Much of the iconography remains undeciphered, and few exhibitions have been shown. Clarke & Clarke will be offering a limited number of pieces from its collection, which was acquired more than 20 years ago. Additional pieces from the collection will be shown by appointment only.

Also at First Thursday Art and Wine, Isaac Schmid, sommelier of The Islander restaurant, is introducing his own wine, Synne Cellars. An online silent auction of all the paintings at SZ Gallery at www.suzannezahr.com/kosta-kulundzic/ will officially close at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 6.