This exhibition considers cultural identity in a global society. It explores the effects of displacement, alienation, exile, diaspora, transnationalism, hybridity, and cosmopolitanism. The title The Third Space is taken from the work of the influential cultural and post-colonial theorist Homi Bhabha; it refers to the interstices between colliding cultures, a liminal space “which gives rise to something different, something new and unrecognizable, a new area of negotiation of meaning and representation.” In this “in-between” space, new cultural identities are formed, reformed, and constantly in a state of becoming. Artists at work in “the third space” speak of a creative edge that derives from the condition of being in a place that simultaneously is and is not one’s home. Organized by Carol Solomon Kiefer, Curator of European Art at the Mead, the exhibition consists of fifteen works by nine artists. Included are pieces from the permanent collection and loans in a range of artistic media – video, photography, painting, and installation.
The Third Space: Cultural Identity Today is part of a year-long interdisciplinary initiative at Amherst College on the theme of “Art and Identity in the Global Community.” Two of the artists in the show, Indonesian Entang Wiharso and Ghanaian-German Daniel Kojo, are resident Amherst College Copeland Fellows for the 2007-2008 academic year. French-Algerian Zoulikha Bouabdellah is resident Amherst College visiting artist for the spring semester. The other artists in the exhibition are Moroccan Lalla Essaydi, Palestinian Mona Hatoum, Vietnamese-American Dinh Q. Lê, Iranian-American Shirin Neshat, Nigerian-Cuban-American Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Native American Jaune Quick-To-See Smith.The exhibition is generously supported by the Hall and Kate Peterson Fund, the Templeton Photography Fund, and the Amherst Arts Series Fund.
AMHERST COLLEGE EVENTS
Thursday, March 27, 4:30 p.m. Gallery Talk - Exhibition Curator Carol Solomon Kiefer, Amherst College Department of Art and Art History Resident Artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah, and Amherst College Copeland Fellows Daniel Kojo, and Entang Wiharso Reception to follow Free and open to the public
Thursday, April 3, 4:30 p.m. Artist Lecture - Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Artist in Residence, Department of Art and Art History, Amherst College Pruyne Lecture Hall, Fayerweather Hall Reception to follow Free and open to the publicMonday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, April 7, 7:30 p.m. Artist Conversation - Copeland Fellow (Amherst College resident artist) Daniel Kojo, Mead Art Museum Reception to follow Free and open to the public
Amherst College has five resident Copeland Fellows for 2007-2008. The Copeland program is intended “to bring together people of diverse backgrounds and different perspectives to engage with faculty and students at Amherst College in a way designed to promote the cross-fertilization of ideas.” Fellows are nominated by members of the faculty and selected from many different disciplines, vocations, and professions. For the first time in 2007-2008, the Copeland Colloquium has a thematic focus: “Art and Identity in the Global Community.”
RELATED EVENTS Opening February 15, 2008 Film - Persepolis, 2007 Amherst Cinema Arts Center info@amherstcinema.orgAnimated film by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud based on the award winning graphic novel Persepolis by Iranian author Marjane Satrapi.
April 1-April 25, 2008 Exhibition - Zoulikha Bouabdella, Artist in Residence, Department of Art and Art History, Amherst College Eli Marsh Gallery, Fayerweather Hall, Amherst College
Thursday, April 3, 7:00 p.m. Reading and Reflection - Marjane Satrapi John M. Greene Hall, Smith CollegeThis event is sponsored by the Smith College Office of the Dean of the College, Smith College Office of Student Affairs, Smith College Office of the Dean of the First Year Class, Smith College Lecture Fund, Hampshire College Center for Academic Support and Advising, Mount Holyoke College Office of the Dean of the College, Five Colleges, Inc., and the Mead Art Museum, Amherst College.
Friday, April 4, 5:30 p.m. Lecture - Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Fifth Annual Dulcy B. Miller Lecture in Art and Art History Weinstein Auditorium, Smith College Campos-Pons is featured in The Third Space: Art and Cultural Identity
Friday, Saturday, April 4-5 Symposium - GLOBAL EYES: New Ways of Seeing Art Smith College Museum of Art 413-585-2760, www.smith.edu/artmuseum A Smith College symposium to explore how global influences are reshaping our understanding of the meaning of art.