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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Re/Act: The Art Show
Wednesday 04 April @ 13:43:00 |
 by BETSY MOWRY
Last weekend, an evocative exhibit by artists from the African Refugee Artists Club & Youth Development (ARAC) opened in tandem with a theatrical production of "The Lost Boys of the Sudan" at the Children's Theatre Company. Re/Act: The Art Show unites local and international young people, who artistically express how the atrocities in Southern Sudan have affected their lives. The exhibit combines three collections: The Art of The Lost Boys, paintings by Sudanese refugees at Kakuma, a Kenyan refugee camp; Photographs from Kakuma, a collection of photographs taken by local photographer Daniel Chang Yang; and artwork from Southwest High School students.
 ARAC is comprised of refugees with a variety of art experiences and skills. Members are ethnically and nationally diverse, ranging in age from 16 to 30. All are, or have been, Kakuma camp residents. Some remain in the camps, while others have resettled in the United States. In 2001, about 3,800 "lost boys" arrived in the United States, and are now scattered throughout nearly 40 cities. As of 2006, the largest population of Sudanese refugees (about 7,000) resides in Omaha, Neb.
Project Director Atem Thuc Aleu spoke briefly Saturday night at the opening. "The purpose of this exhibit is to bring awareness of the [plight] of refugees worldwide. You will feel the emotion behind every painting because the artists put [immense] feeling and spirit into their art."
Aleu, who began painting when he was a refugee at Kakuma in 1994, assembled the collection. An immigrant to the United States in 2001, he created the African Refugee Artists Club because he refused to forget those left behind. "Art truly has the potential to change lives, and this is never more true than for refugee artists and for those exposed to their powerful storytelling. I know because it has changed my own life and continues to do so." Atem is currently a senior art student at Brigham Young University in Utah.
The program was founded to provide support, advance artistic skills and enhance the abilities of members in sharing their stories. Participants in ARAC are untrained artists working in various mediums. The many pieces, colorful and expressive, depict the lush Sudanese countryside and its rich culture. The paintings are striking in their simplicity and straightforward in the way they depict the atrocities of war. The display was co-curated by Stephen Feinstein at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, and mounted by Lars Mason of Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD).
Photographs from Kakuma is a collection of photographs taken by Daniel Cheng Yang. At 15, Yang traveled to Camp Kakuma to document the lives of Sudanese refugees. His candid photographs offer a glimpse into the very human casualties of political conflicts in Sudan and around the world. Yang's work has gained international acclaim, including an exhibit in New York and at the Louvre in Paris. Sales from his book help support the ARAC program.
The Teen Response is a companion exhibit created by Southwest High School youth as an artistic response to the artwork of the Lost Boys and Cheng Yang, and of their studies of the circumstances in Sudan. The students use of various visual artistic mediums—from mixed media and paint, to clay, collage and video—and the results will resonate with viewers. ||
Re/Act: The Art Show runs through Apr. 22 in the Cargill Lobby at the Children's Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls. "Talk Backs" are held each Friday night following performances to discuss issues facing residents of the Southern Sudan. For more information go to ctc4teens.org.
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