MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kurie Fitzgerald: [email protected], 202-994-6461
Candace Smith: [email protected], 202-994-3566
EVENT:
Photographs of life in Guatemala following the country’s 36-year Civil War will be on display in the “Push Factors: Perspectives on Guatemalan Migration,” a new photography exhibition at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. The exhibition highlights how resource exploitation, genocide, poverty, drought, femicide, gangs, corruption and racism in Guatemala led to mass migration. Curated by Heidi McKinnon, executive director of Curators Without Borders, the exhibition will include works by James Rodríguez, who moved to Guatemala in 2004 as a human rights observer with Peace Brigades International and developed a long-term online project focused on documenting post-war processes; Rodrigo Abd, who is an Associated Press staff photographer based in Guatemala; and William Plowman, a photojournalist who focuses on issues of political, economic, social and humanitarian import around the world.
“Push Factors” is designed to be a starting point for community dialogue on migration issues prevalent in popular discourse today following mass migrations out of Africa and the Middle East to Europe in the spring and summer of 2015. Through imagery and discussions on the causes of migration, “Push Factors” asks visitors to rethink migration and encourage tolerance of both documented and undocumented migrants. This is the first exhibition under Sanjit Sethi, the Corcoran’s new director. This traveling exhibition will debut at the Corcoran and future exhibitions will be announced at a later date.
WHEN:
Exhibition Dates - Friday, Oct. 9-Jan. 23, 2016*
WHERE:
The George Washington University
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
West Atrium
500 17th St., NW
Washington, D.C.
Farragut North Metro (Red Line); McPherson Square Metro (Blue, Orange and Silver lines)
ADMISSION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION:
Visitors can schedule a visit to attend the exhibition at go.gwu.edu/visitpushfactors or by calling 202-994-0032. Attention calendar editors: Please do not publish media contact information.
MULTIMEDIA:
Images of selected works available upon request.
BACKGROUND:
The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design bridges the university’s academically robust programs in the arts with creative and inspired scholarship. Part of the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the school functions as an incubator for artists and practitioners in arts-related fields, and serves to enrich students who are taking classes in other areas of the university. As such, it provides a platform for engagement that bridges creative expression and practical application with the breadth and depth of the larger liberal arts education.
Curators Without Borders is a 501 (c)-3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create dynamic and participatory exhibitions and outreach campaigns by harnessing the power of culture to educate, empower and advocate for those in need.
-GW-