Artists in Motion: Illustrations of perilous journeys Art for change by Eritrean refugees

The grant will help host the exhibit, “Artists in Motion: Illustrations of perilous journeys, Art for change by Eritrean refugees” (JRS 2016). This exhibition of artworks produced by Eritrean refugees living in Mai Aini Refugee Camp in northern Ethiopia, under the auspices of a Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) recreation program that teaches art and encourages refugee youth to express and talk about their lives through visual art. This exhibit, curated by Angela Wells (then JRS Communications Officer in Nairobi) has been seen in various locations in the US and Europe, and will provide the forum for the aforementioned crucially needed public engagement with the complex lives of refugees. Specifically, the various works displayed speak to the vast range of emotions and experiences of the refugees of Mai Aini, spanning from suffering and sorrow to happiness and love.

This exhibition will run from November 17, 2017 to January 23, 2018 at the Crossroads Gallery, Notre Dame Center for Arts & Culture, and will provide an ideal forum for Notre Dame students, interested residents of South Bend and the surrounding areas, to gain a glimpse and a better perspective into the lives of refugees, to understand the deep tragedies underlying the displacement, but also (and more important), to understand the deeper similarities in human resilience, adaptability, and the capacity for community building, solidarity, and justice.