On June 24 from 2-3 pm there will be an open reception and panel discussion for our exhibition by Ethiopian artist Kebedech Tekleab and DC poet Ethelbert Miller. I will moderate the conversation between the two in the museum.
Blue and Gray: This Era of Exile
Artwork by Kebedech Tekleab
Poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller
Curated by David Keplinger
The recent fratricidal war in Ethiopia; the constant turmoil in Somalia; the current wars between Russia and Ukraine; the war in Syria; the unrest in Iran, Israel, and Palestine; and so many other countries continue to be responsible for a massive loss of human life and the displacement of people.
Two artists — one born in the Bronx in New York City and another in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — reflect on the nature of exile and spiritual resilience in this collaboration that treks across borders of media in poetry, sculpture, visual art, blues, and literary translation.
Visually and imaginatively stunning, these pairings aim to challenge our preconceptions about exile, engaging the "insider" exiled from safety in a structurally racist society in conversation with the "outsider," the exile/dissident, who has fled political strife to an academic position in the United States, but whose work still reflects an active hyper-vigilance against coming danger.