Young Costa Rican Artists: Nine Proposals

The IDB Cultural Center cordially invites you to attend a lecture on
Gender and Identity in the Caribbean: Afro-Costa Rican Women with Syracuse University Professor Dr. D. Kwame Dixon

Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.

After the event, visit the IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery exhibition: Young Costa Rican Artists: Nine Proposals.

Dr. Kwame Dixon will examine the literary discourse of Afro-Costa Rican writers with particular emphasis on the works of Eulalia Bernard, Shirley Campbell, and Delia McDonald. Afro-Hispanic writers, except for Nicolas Guillén, Nancy Morejón (Cuban) and possibly Manuel Zapata Olivella (Colombian), are for the most part socially excluded by the traditional Latin American literary canon because their writing is considered too specific in its themes on the black experience. It is argued that the writings of Afro-Hispanic writers are socially cleansed from the larger literary canon of Caribbean and Latin American literature. This discussion aims to show how Afro-Costa Rican women, through use of identity and gendered discourses, situate Afro-Hispanic writing within the larger frame of Latin American and Caribbean literature.

This lecture is being presented in anticipation of National Caribbean American Heritage Month in June. Dr. Dixon lives and works at the Syracuse University Center in Madrid, Spain, and is currently Visiting Professor of African American Studies at Syracuse University where he teaches courses focused on Race, Democracy and Human Rights in Afro-Latin America.

He earned his Ph.D. in 1997 from Clark Atlanta University and his primary research is focused on understanding how race, racial discrimination and gender intersect to create particular forms of discrimination and marginalization that lead to human rights violations. Dr. Dixon is a Fulbright scholar and has conducted extensive field research on Afro-American communities in Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In 1999 and 2000 Dr. Dixon served as a consultant to Amnesty International for the United Nations World Conference.

Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Center - Inter-American Development Bank
1330 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC
202 623 3558

Metro Center, 13th Street exit - Free and open to the public – Photo ID required First come, first seated

Gala Opening Night for artDC

I donned what I consider my semi-formal attire to attend tonight's reception for artDC at the DC Convention Center. The event was promoted as laying out the Red Carpet and you know, they did! It's a beautifully designed space, red carpet and all and the art is displayed very well. This show gets a thumbs up. The DC art scene made history tonight by staging this top notch event. artDC is large enough to keep you moving and riveted on art for hours. It's a joy to see the variety and the quality of art that is being exhibited. I got a quick glimpse of the sculpture selections, including translucent moving sculptures and a nude sculpture of three men in conversation (more details later). There's lots more to see. Come see for yourself what the buzz is all about. Tomorrow you get a free pass to get in. There's art from the US and abroad. Check out the list of exhibitors here. There's some great art to be bought, so don't miss out! Wear your comfortable shoes and come on out.

I took a few pictures of DC participants, and you can enjoy a few scenes from the evening. Try to guess who's who in their displays.

We have persons from Project 4 - look closely for director, Anne Surak. Jessica Lawrence and Kimberly Graham are from Hemphill Gallery. There's Felix Angel from IDB Cultural Center, Norman Parish and Kimberly Perkins from the Parish Gallery, Graciela Kartofel from Modern Contemporary Art of the Americas is down from New York. Martin Irvine of Irvine Contempory, Randall Scott Gallery and Victoria Reis at Transformer are enjoying the show. Andres Tremols of WPA/C & Tim Tate of The Glass School will be back for more tomorrow. (Let me know if I missed anyone) I'm in there too. Come meet eveyone. I'm heading out to see the rest of the show tomorrow and I hope you take this opportunity to come see and buy some great art!