I am excited to share a few ongoing and upcoming events with you. My international project, 122 Conversations is currently exhibiting in Rania, Iraqi Kurdistan at the University of Raparin. Rania is the second of six cities the exhibition will visit as part of a cross cultural exchange to foster caring as a political act. The project was envisioned to serve as a catalyst for positive social change one individual at a time .
122 Conversations opens Växjö, Sweden at the Konsthall in March and Petrozavodsk, Russia in May of this year. Scheduled dates for all six cities are listed below.
The artwork in the exhibition represents 60 artist led Skype interviews involving ten residents from each of the six sister cities from Duluth Sister Cities, Intl. (DSCI), including the mayor of each city. Each of the artworks depict an interpretative vision of the conversations that include imagery, words, and descriptions of the experiences that relate to the individuals involved.
The work chronicles the essence of human interaction through relational listening into palimpsest paintings and video. Traveling with the paintings are two interactive elements that invite citizens from each country to contribute drawings or stories to be collected and compiled into artists books.
Click here for video archive and to view footage from Rania documented by photographer Ari Mstafa. Visit the 122 Conversations website for more images and videos including the upcoming opening on March 4 in Växjö, Sweden..
I am thrilled to announce the Weisman Art Museum has just acquired three of my recent woodblock paintings. This brings the total of artworks to 6 that reside in this museum. Pictured at left is the Weisman, the first museum designed by Frank Gehry.
