It's been a sobering time in New Zealand since last Tuesday, when the earthquake struck Christchurch causing so much devastation to life and lives. I have been lucky enough not to have lost anyone personally but I know people who are going through the agonising wait to hear any news of their loved ones who are still missing.
It was at the Canterbury Museum where Cris, the director of Ekrea, saw the Assume Nothing exhibition and wanted take it to Spain. The Canterbury museum has been closed since the earthquake, but all the wonderful staff there are reported to be ok, although the building has "lost bit's off it". Ekrea has project managed the exhibition touring to Barcelona where it opened two days after the earthquake at Cultural Centre F. Bonnemaison. The event raised money for the Christchurch earthquake fund.
All this has made me reflect on how we connect, across experiences, cities, countries, languages, cultures and identities. I've found myself crying daily at personal stories of loss from the earthquake. They are strangers but I feel connected to them on some level. Just as someones image and story in a gallery on the other side of the world in Barcelona will connect with a stranger in some way. I like to think of those exchanges as an invisible thread connecting two people who may never meet- and that the same threads connect us to our loved ones when they have passed.
So in this grim climate when there is so much suffering, thinking about these threads makes me feel that the world seems a little smaller, hearts a little bigger and the connection between us a little more tangible.
EXHIBITIONS
BARCELONA SPAIN
ASSUME NOTHING- CULTURAL CENTRE F. BONNEMAISON
Opened February 24th- April 14th 2011
http://www.ekrea.org/html/exposicio_assume.php
WELLINGTON AOTEAROA
SWEAT- Mark Hutchins Gallery
Opens March 9th 2011
March 16th OUTGAMES event
CONNECTICUT USA
"Continuum: Gender Identities" Exhibition.
Opening Saturday April 30th, 2011, 6 - 9 pm, until June 3rd.
Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield
FILM SCREENINGS
TORONTO CANADA
9th Annual Female Eye
NOMINATED FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
Film Festival, March 16th - 20th, 2011.
http://www.FemaleEyeFilmFestival.com/
WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND
2nd Asia Pacific Outgames Human Rights Conference
LGBTI HUMAN RIGHTS FILM EVENING (incl. Assume Nothing)
Thursday, March 17th, 7.30 - 9.30pm
Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall
Cost: Gold coin donation
http://www.wellingtonoutgames.com/arts_human_rights_film_evening
LEON SPAIN
"Black and White" screening
May 2011(Details tba)
Contemporary Art Museum of Castilla y León
www.musac.es
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