Take a moment and Google the word "darfur," and you are sure to be greeted by terrible images of death, poverty and worse. Oddly, while the word has (finally) begun to seep into our national dialogue, the magnitude of the horror remains just outside our personal understanding. Of course, in the end, I can only speak for myself. While I am aware of the plight of Africans, I can't put my hand on it, so it lacks meaning to me. This I am ashamed to admit.
But, I would like to become more aware and it is in that interest that I, in part, planned my weekend activities. Sunday afternoon, Anne and I took advantage of some personal free time to take in the national exhibit DARFUR/DARFUR, which was beginning a 4 month visit to local monument, the George Eastman House. DARFUR/DARFUR is a travelling exhibit of digitally presented images of the genocide in the Darfur region of Africa. Photographs in the presentation were taken by photojournalists Lynsey Addario, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, Ron Haviv, Paolo Pellegrin, Ryan Spencer Reed, and Michal Safdie, as well as, U.S. Marine Brian Steidle. The presentation of images is accompanied by a mix of what seems to be both traditional, and more contemporary remixes of traditional, Sudanese music. In any case the music complimented the depth and power of the images they accompanied.
Also on display were three excerpts from upcoming longer form documentaries which are currently under production. The snippets, consisting primarily of still photos and personal recollections of the tragedy in Darfur, were shown on a loop, allowing for repeated viewing. The repeated viewing of terrible, tragic, heartbreaking, necessary images.
Take a moment and Google the word "darfur," then if you have any questions, check the following links:
SaveDarfur.orgPersonally, while taking in the presentations, I could not help but be saddened by the memory of a past self I had forgotten, who would have wished to respond to the pain...
Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop
Adio, wli nanawalmezi.
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