Many trips to art museums are static. Short paragraphs hang below pieces on the wall, but fail to encompass the power or reason behind each image. The Mills International Center is working to erase that form of display with an evening of art, music and dance from various cultures around the world to celebrate the opening of its spring art show.
The Spring Mingle opening reception will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the Mills Center and will include dances from Thailand performed by Pattarin Wattanakasaem, Brazilian music, appetizers and the chance to meet several of the artists from the spring show.
The art show includes 35 pieces of photography, paintings and sculpture
that celebrate international cultures.
Kelly Tavares, the exhibit curator at the Mills Center, is especially excited for audiences to see the intricate folk art paintings from Haiti on loan from the Newman Center.
“With all the problems that Haiti has had throughout the year, I was thinking of something that would bring also the good image of the cultural heritage of these people … It’s amazing, you can see Haitian art in the time that you just had images of sorrow and pain,”
she said.
The paintings, from many different artists, feature detailed, colorful brush patterns depicting lush green plants and small animals nestled within the leaves.
Devika Bakshi, a comparative literature major at the University originally from New Delhi, India, will be displaying a series of photographs she took in 2008 while she was showing a friend around her hometown. The photos feature stray dogs relaxing near the remarkable architecture of Delhi’s historical monuments.
“These photographs in particular are inspired by my love for Delhi. The red sandstone, the dust, the intricate architectural detail is visually fascinating. And the images as a whole are extremely evocative for me. They recreate a lost, perhaps fictional atmosphere for which I am intensely nostalgic,” she said.
In addition to her photography, visitors of the reception can look forward to hearing Bakshi sing a song with a friend from one of their favorite Hindi films.
American photographer Michael Wherley is displaying two series at the spring show. Mesmerizing photographs of reflections and ripples in the rivers of Venice will be shown in the main gallery area of the Mills Center, while the Aperture Gallery, a smaller space near the restaurants of the EMU, will reveal Wherley’s more documentary-style photographs of everyday scenes throughout Asia.
The works of Isabel Lopez Dutroncy, born in Mexico City, make up a series called “Sunset of a Civilization” and feature brilliant oil paintings of Mayan and Aztec symbols.
“I am always looking for ways to share the part of my heritage that is not always told by history, like the beauty of the daily life and the legends of these amazing civilizations,” she said. “I want to share my thoughts, my feelings and the love I have for the ancient civilizations of America.”
Guatemalan artist Marina Hajek’s striking sculptures will also be on display in the
Mills Center.
“Marina has a very strong story of the oppression of the dictatorial government, and she has also lost her son, so her work is very expressive of that pain. Everything is intentional,” Tavares said.
In addition to the exhibit in the Mills Center, the Buzz Café will host a reception at 5 p.m. and display collages and drawings created by local Latino students as a part of the Youth Empowerment Project, Eugene Arte Latino and Juventud FACETA programs that aim to provide additional opportunities to disadvantaged or marginalized young people in the community through education about and support of their roots.
“Young Latinos in this community are a distinct minority,” said Jessica Zapata, the founder of Eugene Arte Latino. “Being able to express themselves in a public arena like this art show is very affirming and empowering to them. Their lives are full of challenges: living in a culture that does not recognize them, being caught in between the cultural world of their parents and the culture where they go to school and live day to day.”
Karen Olch, coordinator of the Youth Empowerment Project, added, “Art is a powerful way to express who they are, what they feel, how they view the world, what is important to them. All of these things build confidence, self-esteem, self-respect. The arts have the unique capacity to be able to build these qualities.”
Many of the young artists will be at the opening to talk about Juventud FACETA and their artwork. Music by a mariachi band called Herradura de Oro will add to the fun of the evening at the Buzz. The young artists will join the main reception in the Mills Center at 6:30 p.m. where visitors will be able to meet and speak with Wherley, Hajek and Bakshi.
“The idea is to create a dialogue from many different voices. A mix of the folk, the professional, the youth — they are all coming together to dialogue. It’s wonderful,”
Tavares said.
Organized in conjunction with the Cultural Forum, the International Cultural Service Program and the Newman Center, many of the art pieces on display will also be for sale to the public. All proceeds will go directly to the artists.
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