Notions of Exile

Notions of Exile is a bilingual virtual exhibition and series of programs, co-curated by Fabiola R. Delgado and Faride Mereb. The project explores the cultural influence of the largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas—the forced migration of six million Venezuelans from their homeland—using Venezuelan writer and journalist Aquiles Nazoa’s stories of exile and migration as a metaphorical “table” around which the co-curators have gathered artists from Venezuela and its diaspora. Notions of Exile raises questions about how this story of exile is told and how words like mestizaje, a concept deeply ingrained in the Venezuelan collective psyche to describe assimilation, gain distinct meaning when home is somewhere new. The co-curators and participating artists, scholars, writers, architects, and activists utilize archival documentation, photographs, contemporary painting, drawing, video, and performance to interpret the Venezuelan emigration experience and consider these inquiries.

The virtual exhibition features artwork by Miguel Braceli, Diana López, Génesis Alayón, Samoel González, and Faride Mereb and can be accessed here.

The program participants included Leonardo Almao, Deborah Castillo, Alexander Chaparro, Gabriela García, Mercedes Golip, Franklin Hurtado, Henry Rueda, Henry Solórzano, Ugo Ulive, Graciela Yáñez Vicentini, and Luis Moreno Villamediana.

Programs:

Virtual Arepera with Mercedes Golip
Friday, January 23, 2021 | 6:30-7:30pm

Rise and Fall of a Gasoline-Driven Building (El Helicoide) with Henry Rueda
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 | 7-8pm

El Fondo Como Protagonista (The Background as Protaganist)
Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 7:30-9pm

The Story Of A Horse That Was Quite Beautiful with Fabiola R. Delgado
Saturday, February 27, 2021 | 2-3pm

Exile and “Insile”: A Conversation with Leonardo Almao and Faride Mereb
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | 6:30pm

Moving Verse
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 7–8pm

Radical Disobedience
Friday, March 12, 2021 | 8–9pm