Artists depict
troubled world
Thursday,
June 22, 2006
'Girl
At The Pump,' a photo by Isaac Majak, taken during his recent
trip home to Sudan. Majak, who graduated from Belmont High School
last year, will display his photos at Art Without Borders' 'Event
#1' this weekend in Cambridge.
Art Without Borders announces "Event #1,"
the organization's debut event, a weekend of art exhibitions,
concerts and lectures. The weekend will bring together artists
and musicians from Sudan and Nigeria with local artists and performers
who share an inclusive view of world culture.
"Event #1" will place at the Democracy
Center, 45 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge. Dates and times are Friday,
June 23 from 6-9:30 p.m., Saturday, June 24 from 1-9:30 p.m.,
and Sunday, June 25, 1-5 p.m.
Keynote speaker Dr. Dan H. Fenn, founding
director of the JFK Library, will address "Art in a Troubled World"
at the opening reception Friday at 6 p.m. Fenn enjoyed a long
career as a public servant, including in the Kennedy White House.
Since retirement, he has supported civic causes around his home
town of Lexington, including serving on the board of the Lexington
Symphony, several local choral groups, and the Cambridge Multicultural
Arts Center.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., photographer Marika
Barnett will discuss and show slides of her photography project
"Beauty and Dignity in the Slums of India." At 5 p.m., poets Cammy
Thomas, Kevin Bowen, Bob Clawson and Julia Lisella will read selected
poems that reflect on the intersection of politics and art.
There will also be music throughout the
weekend. On Friday, June 23 at 8 p.m., jazz diva Melissa Kassel
will be joined by composer and keyboardist Marc Rossi. Rossi has
made a life-long study of Indian music and brings a broad cultural
awareness to his music-making. As Art Without Borders' first mentor,
he will also be playing and improvising on Saturday, June 24 at
3:30 p.m. with Sudanese musicians Atem Garang and William Manyok.
The Sudanese musicians build their own instruments, including
guitars, and are vigorous performers, dancing as well as playing
their music.
Along with the music on Saturday at 3:30
p.m., Susan Winship, director of the Sudanese Education Fund,
will discuss the work of the fund, including its mentoring work
with Sudanese artists. Ellen Morgan from SEF has mentored Isaac
Majak, a young photographer from Sudan, starting with providing
his first camera. Majak, who graduated from Belmont High School
last year, will display his art in the gallery. Aduei Riak, who
came to Brandeis University from Sudan after finding refuge in
Ethiopia, will talk about Sudanese culture. The mentoring efforts
of SEF provide a model for ARTwb's developing mentoring program.
Saturday at 7:30 p.m. will be the final
music event of the weekend. Folk/pop musician Peter Donnelly,
longtime music-maker in Provincetown, and Teresa Storch, who has
recently made a name for herself in New England and nationally,
will perform original songs.
Throughout the weekend, an art exhibition
will showcase the work of featured artists, including paintings
by Atem Alue of Kenya and Sudan, and the colorful mixed-media
work of Segun Olorunfemi of Nigeria. The exhibition also features
photographs by Isaac Majak and Machar Nai of Sudan and Marika
Barnett's photographs of India. The exhibit is curated by Art
Without Borders' founding director Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer. On
Sunday, June 25 from 1-5 p.m., the exhibit will continue to be
on display at the Democracy Center.
The sale of art work during "Event #1"
will benefit the artists, Sudanese Education Fund, Art Without
Borders, and VSAarts of Nigeria, which conducts educational programs
in Nigeria teaching traditional dance, drumming, painting and
batik for children with disabilities.
For the complete schedule, visit www.artwb.org
or call 781-307-7306 for a brochure.
ART Without Borders is concerned with
artists' freedom of expression in all forms. ARTwb helps artists
who have been disadvantaged, including those who have been persecuted
or forced to become refugees, by providing exposure for their
work and helping them develop a professional network here so they
can continue to make art. It also works with partner organizations
to help artists who remain in their own countries but are struggling
in a climate of persecution or poverty. ARTwb members provide
mentoring for disadvantaged artists to help them find opportunities
in the professional art world of the United States or their native
country.
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