Visual Stories Exploring Global Themes

Visual Stories Exploring Global Themes


ON VIEW

May 22 - Jun 7, 2015

FEATURING

Aake Ericson  | Michelle Frankfurter | Glenna Gordon | Paolo Marchetti  | Jordi Pizarro Torrel

"Fever: The Awakening of European Fascism" by Paolo Marchetti is the first chapter of a five-year-long photographic and sociological quest -- which turned into a first-hand experiment -- to better understand a feeling that has grown to dominate the public arena in the age in which we live: rage. Marchetti decided to focus on its role as fuel in the political life of four European countries: Italy, Hungary, Finland and Germany. He discovered the feeling was inseparable from the idea of the group: the 'herd' brings unity and gives an illusion of power, but it also means the loss of intellectual autonomy and individual identity in favor of a collective one, in the name of a higher purpose and ideology supposedly shared by each of its members. In recent years, especially given the influx of North-African migrants in southern Europe and the atomization of society in face of the dire consequences of the financial crisis, we have seen a resurgence in the use of fear as a political tool. Rage has been, and still is, the response of the mass.

In "Racism Against Roma People," Åke Ericson covers the poor living conditions of the Roma in Europe. The debate on France's expulsion of Roma and the Swedish police registration of Roma is a clear example of explicit racism. This is a long-term project by Ericson involving eight countries. He has covered the Roma situation in Slovakia, Sweden, Romania, Kosovo, France, and the Czech Republic.

Meaning both “destination” and “destiny” in Spanish, "Destino" by Michelle Frankfurter portrays the perilous journey of undocumented Central American migrants along the network of freight trains lurching inexorably across Mexico, towards the hope of finding a better life in the United States. It is the odyssey of a generation of exiles across a landscape that is becoming increasingly dangerous, heading towards a precarious future as an option of last resorts.

In April 2014, nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a remote village in Northern Nigeria by the Islamic jihadi group Boko Haram. Despite global outrage, little has been done by the Nigerian government to bring them back. "Abducted Nigerian School Girls" by Glenna Gordon shows their school uniforms, books and other objects - the things they left behind, the last traces, and the only way we can see the missing girls.

"The Believers" is a body of documentary work by Jordi Pizarro, in his quest to explore the question why do people believe, and how has religion through the ages been used to narrate the purpose of our existence. As part of an on-going long-term project, "The Believers" explores religious communities in 10 countries across 4 continents. In his work, Jordi Pizarro seeks to document and understand how communities are formed through religion, or the contrary; how beliefs are reinforced through preserving traditions; and faith is strengthened through performing rituals and sharing a common interpretation of truth.

This exhibition is presented by Social Documentary Network.