War Survivors Tell Personal Stories at Veterans’ Day Forum

October 27, 2006 - Hartford, CT
Contact: Lynne Williamson at 860-278-2044 ext. 251 or lynne.williamson@icrweb.org

Gannon Long at 860-278-2044 ext. 275 or gannon.long@icrweb.org

At the community forum “Narratives of War,” new Connecticut residents who have experienced strife and displacement in their home countries will give firsthand accounts of harrowing events like the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) insurgency in Peru and the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. The event will include a talk by author and scholar Anne Brodsky who documents forms of resilience among Afghan women, performances by a Tibetan flute player and Cambodian court dancer, and a panel discussion with researchers, traditional artists, and community advocates about the power of the arts to heal. The event is free and open to the public, and will take place on Saturday, November 11, 2006 from 12 pm to 6 pm, at The Institute for Community Research (ICR), 2 Hartford Square West/ 146 Wyllys St, Suite 100 in Hartford. Advance registration is required. The forum is part of a series accompanying the powerful Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory, an exhibit of 60 textiles made by artisans in war-torn countries from across the world, which will be at ICR from October 27, 2006 to January 13, 2007.

“Everyday people caught in the crossfire when governments, insurgencies, and foreign occupiers fight, struggle to represent the history they are living through and their own personal traumas,” says Lynne Williamson, who is organizing the exhibit and event series at ICR. “This forum is an opportunity for people whose voices are seldom heard to share their experiences with the public.” The panel representing Chilean, Hmong and other ethnic populations in Connecticut will be moderated by Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven, MD, a Health and Human Rights professor at Trinity College who is an expert in healthcare and gender-based violence, particularly in apartheid South Africa. The opening talk by Dr. Brodsky will focus on her extensive work with women in Afghanistan and Pakistan. An Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Maryland, she is also a relief worker with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a non-governmental organization that fights to improve conditions for women and children in Afghanistan, and documents the impact of the Soviet and American occupations on civilians in the region. These themes are represented in the exhibit’s Afghan rugs, featuring motifs of Soviet tanks and Kalashnikov rifles. Says Williamson, “Like the personal stories to be told at the forum, the textiles in Weavings of War are mechanisms for ordinary citizens to cope with intense violence and upheaval through narrative, art, and tradition.”

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm; by appointment; and during special events. For more information about Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory, “Narratives of War,” and other related events, please visit www.incommunityresearch.org/weavingsofwar.htm or contact Lynne Williamson at 860-278-2044 x251 or lynne.Williamson@icrweb.org.

The Connecticut showing of Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory is hosted by the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CHAP) of The Institute for Community Research. ICR's programming has been developed by CHAP in collaboration with an advisory committee of artists, community leaders and educators from local groups whose cultures are represented in the exhibit, and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts; the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism; The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation; the Knox Foundation; the Connecticut Humanities Council; the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; the Ensworth Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, Trustee; and the Greater Hartford Arts Council, through its United Arts and United Way campaigns.

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