“Tribute to the Disappeared,” an exhibition to honor victims of injustice around the world, will open at Marshall University’s Birke Art Gallery Wednesday, Oct. 5, with an opening reception at 4:30 p.m. The same day, an art workshop will be conducted by curator Andrea Arroyo at 1 p.m. in Marshall’s Memorial Student Center, room 2W22, and a presentation by Arroyo will take place at 7 p.m. in the Shawkey Room of the MSC.
The project, created in 2014, is curated by Arroyo, a visual artist who has gathered images from over 300 international artists and collectives so far. The project has three components: an online exhibition, including a Facebook page; a series of gallery exhibitions; and a series of community workshops.
Arroyo said the exhibition will commemorate the two-year anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 students from the Teachers College in Ayotzinapa, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2014, as well as the more than 26,000 women and men who have disappeared in Mexico in recent years.
“For the project, the concept of disappearance comprises forced disappearances, as well as non-literal disappearances carried out though injustice, invisibility and discrimination,” said Arroyo. “ ‘Tribute to the Disappeared’ aims to create awareness about human rights abuses around the world, including disappearances in Juarez and Ayotzinapa in Mexico; police brutality toward communities of color in the United States; the kidnapping of almost 300 girls in Baga, Nigeria, among other cases; and to generate international solidarity.”
Participants, ranging from 16 to 89 years old, include established and emerging artists from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. They work in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, collage, embroidery, video, installation, poetry and performance. Participants also include “non-artist” members of diverse communities.
Arroyo is an award-winning visual artist with an extensive trajectory, with collections of work in the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress and publications in The New Yorker and The New York Times. She has been the subject of over 150 features in the international media. Arroyo’s curatorial projects focus on socially relevant issues. For additional information on Arroyo, visit: www.andreaarroyo.com.
The event is nested in Marshall’s Department of Modern Languages and sponsored by College of Liberal Arts, College of Arts and Media School of Art and Design, Information Technology: Online Learning and Libraries, Office of Intercultural Affairs, Department of Political Science and Department of Modern Languages.
For more information on “Tribute to the Disappeared,” visit www.tributetothedisappeared.com or visit them on Facebook.