Fall Symposium II: Evidence of Things Not Seen: Creativity as Reconstruction from Trauma
Monday, September 16, 2024 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM EDT
Art & Design Building, Gillespie Gallery
The Fall Symposium II forms a pivotal part of our year-long celebration, Baldwin100, commemorating the centennial of the influential writer James Baldwin and promises to be an insightful exploration into the intersection of creativity and trauma. It is produced in collaboration with Dr. Alison Landsberg, and the Center for Humanities Research (CHR). Partners include the Baldwin100 hosts and partners.
The symposium will feature a compelling roundtable discussion entitled "Evidence of Things Not Seen: Creativity as Reconstruction from Trauma." Esteemed panelists including Lina Alattar (visual artist), Monifa Love (writer and academic), Kris O'Shee (therapist, memoirist, dancer, host of the Baldwin100), will come together under the moderation of Alison Landsberg, who will help us talk about a framework of exploring memory and empathy. Together, they will share their reflections on creativity and resilience in the face of adversity within the context of Baldwin’s life and works, talk about their perspectives on the role of place, both local and global, and the shaping influence of upbringing in a creative journey, and navigate a deep exploration of memory, empathy, and the transformative power of creativity as inspired by Baldwin's enduring legacy.
Each panelist brings a unique perspective shaped by their professional experiences and personal journeys, making this a truly collaborative and enlightening discussion.
The Gallery will also feature an exhibition Nothing Personal, by Richard Avedon and James Baldwin.
Lunch will be served at 11:30pm.
MODERATOR
Alison Landsberg
Alison Landsberg is Professor of History and Cultural Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is the author of Prosthetic Memory: The Transformation of American Remembrance in the Age of Mass Culture (New York: Columbia UP, 2004) and Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge (New York: Columbia UP, 2015) along with numerous articles and book chapters. Taken together, her body of research on museums, film, and television, has focused on the modes of engagement they solicit from individuals and the possibilities therein for the production and acquisition of memory, historical knowledge and political subjectivity in the public sphere.
PANELISTS
Lina Alattar
Lina Alattar is a Northern Virginia-based artist. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Middle Tennessee State University, after which, she pursued higher art education in Gubio, Italy and The George Washington University. Lina is a grant recipient from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2023, 2021, 2017 and 2016. She has received great success exhibiting in the United States and Europe. Solo and group exhibitions include the D.C. metro area, New York City, London and Italy. Notable exhibition include Art Basel Miami, Superfine Art Fair DC, The United State Institute of Peace, The NIH, Martha Spak Gallery at the Wharf, Hillyer Art Space, McLean Project for the Arts, Greater Reston Arts Center, and Tennessee State Museum. Lina’s work has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, American Lifestyle Magazine, and Northern Virginia Magazine. Her past work experience include freelance graphic designer for The National Gallery of Art, creative art director at Kiplinger.com, and senior graphic designer at George Washington University.
Monifa Love
Monifa Love is a Professor in the Department of Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies and former Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Bowie State University. The Caribbean Philosophical Association recently awarded her the Nicolás Guillén Lifetime Achievement Award. She was a 2023 Board of Regents Faculty Awards recipient for Outstanding Creative Activity, a 2021 recipient of the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a CAS Faculty of the Year Award in 2015. Love earned her doctorate in English from Florida State University. She studied as a McKnight Doctoral Fellow and as an associate of the great philosopher and oppression theorist William R. Jones. She earned her bachelor's degree in Anthropology with honors from Princeton University. Love is the author of the Nivola Prize-winning novel Freedom in the Dismal and two poetry collections, including Dreaming Underground, a Naomi Long Madgett Award winner. She has produced fine arts catalogs: the critically acclaimed "….my magic pours secret libations. She is the co-author of Romancing Harlem, a cultural memoir of Harlem written with Charles Mills. Her work can be found in numerous reference books, textbooks, and journals. In 2023, she co-edited and wrote the introduction to Speculations on Black Life: The Collected Essays of William R. Jones, published by Bloomsbury. Love is a two-time NEH fellow and the co-founder of Home Base Women, a women's storytelling collective. She lives in Maryland with her spouse, and they work on development projects in Ghana.
Kris O'Shee
Kris O'Shee spent four decades as a modern dancer and choreographer, including a decade in London, where she cofounded Junction Dance Company and taught at the London Contemporary Dance School. After returning to the US, she taught and performed in the San Francisco Bay Area before taking a position on the dance faculty at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She then moved to Washington, DC, to live with her husband, Alan Cheuse, and founded O’Shee Dances, through which she continued choreographing and performing. In the last two decades, O’Shee earned a certificate in massage therapy and a graduate degree in psychology. She currently has a private practice in psychotherapy in DC, where she resides.
Sponsored and produced by The Cheuse Center and the Center for Humanities Research (CHR) alongside the Baldwin100 Hosts. The event is hosted in Gillespie Gallery, where Mason Exhibitions presents Nothing Personal, an exhibition of James Baldwin and Richard Avedon's book, Nothing Personal.
