On Thursday, we had the privilege of visiting the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, where we were warmly greeted by faculty, staff, and peers. Due to the open plan of the building, the hallways filled with the sounds of art production--hammering, pounding slabs of clay, shifting tables, and open conversation. A senior 3-D major's sculpture dominated the central space: a nuclear bomb explosion constructed from hand-sharpened bamboo spears, referring to the past, present, and future of violent acts.While this may or may not have been her intent, I compared the two modes of warfare and tried to imagine how many spear-holding individuals it would take to create the amount of damage done by a single nuclear bomb. She is also the student who burned a small hole into the map of Karachi for each of the bomb blasts since 2001 (mentioned in the previous blog entry).
My talk was called, "The Role of Art in Addressing Conflict" and it started with the idea that, in Elizabethan literature, the Fool was the only one who could tell the King the most difficult truths without getting his head chopped off. Artists--especially those who are interested in addressing themes of violence--can share this same status. While, on one hand, we struggle to be taken seriously, on the other hand, it is precisely because we're not taken seriously that we have the freedom to say what we want to say and have people listen without retaliation. Perhaps this is because we speak in metaphor. And perhaps because we aren't working for anyone else. Instead, we are often self-funded and we often have no personal agendas beyond what we are putting forth in the art. What makes us this vulnerable is also what makes us this armored when we speak out. Imagine how ridiculous it would look if a powerful person fought back against an artist! That's how we get out power.
All of this being said, I intentionally left Home Drone, one of our most recent and controversial projects-in-process, out of the presentation. When the Q&A period started after my talk, however, a student asked if we would consider doing any of our work on an international scale. In response, I explained the first steps we have made on Home Drone. The positive response reminded me that I was in an art school, where we are educated to question power, corruption, and status quo in an effort to create a better future. The last paragraph of the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture's Mission Statement reads, "We shall not feel content till we have succeeded in preparing our graduates to live in the world of tomorrow, enabled them to share in the responsibilities for social, economic and political problems and to apply their professional knowledge and abilities to the solution of such problems, so that besides being technically and aesthetically literate, they are above all, good human beings."
This faculty member (Ayesha? I will be sure to confirm her name as soon as I look back at my notes from the day--we met so many people!) is teaching a political art and performance class very similar to the one that I am teaching at the University of Rochester. We look forward to finding ways to either have our students work on collaborative projects and/or to working together on our own project(s). We had such an amazing conversation, regardless of the fact that we had to pack it into the confines of minutes!
Before lunch, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the senior studios and speak with students about their thesis exhibitions. Here, Hamyda is showing me large packages of holographic stamps that she has made using images of people that have been deemed personal heroes by ordinary citizens. She is asking participants to write stories about the personal heroes in their lives and will be making small, barely legible history books referring to each individual history. Other students are making senior thesis exhibitions around themes of mapping, urban architecture, Muslim identity, and dyslexia. I will add more to this blog once I get some more photos of the studios from Ali, our guide from the U.S. Embassy. I'll also have the students' names once I unpack my bags.
These students are the first two people I have ever met from Afghanistan. I wish that I could have stayed longer to talk about their art and their experiences at IVS. I wish, in fact, that I could have had more than a week to learn more about the students' works! We unfortunately only had time for five studio visits before lunch. Inshallah, we will continue our discussions over Skype, Facebook, and email.
It was our good fortune that we arrived on the day that the 3rd year students were having their annual luncheon. The food was delicious! I especially liked the sweet dessert made with shaved carrots.
Again, we are sooooooooooooo appreciative for the efforts of many, many people who helped to organize these exchanges. Throughout the week, Brian has talked about micro-changes. This experience has been a perfect example: Two (2) people, Anila and Maqsood, came to the United States and, within a matter of minutes, had such a positive affect that Brian and I (4) boarded a plane only months later for Pakistan. We met with students and diplomats at Anila's house for lunch (11), and spoke at the Social Intervention conference (311). If 50% of the people we met told one other person that they had a good experience in our interactions, Anila and Maqsood have now affected 461 people. Then we met Tony, Sarah, and Ali (464), our U.S. Consulate representatives and mentors. They planned the trip to Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (564) and to Jinnah University for Women (664). If only half of the students we met at those schools said a single positive thing to someone else, Anila and Maqsood have now affected over 700 people. In addition, Brian spoke with the media on Friday, which opens up a whole new opportunity for dialogue and exchange. On our side, we have started this blog which has already had over 500 hits. We will be sure to spread all of our incredibly positive experiences upon our return to the United States. I imagine that the events of this one week trip, thanks to all of the students, staff, faculty, family and friends we met, could reach thousands of people. This is significant during a time when we are at a great lack for stories of positive relationships between our two countries.
Thank you so much to the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs' International Visitor Leadership Program for inviting Anila, Maqsood, Rasheed (who is collaborating with us on other projects) and the other members of their group to visit Rochester, NY, last year. This exchange is evidence that the program is working!
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