People of Color Arts Festival now open

Art show has definite goal

1930's Germany saw a backlash against the modernist movement in art, art that the government referred to as: Art for Art's Sake. Anything too esoteric or without a clear purpose was frowned upon - landscapes and peasants were favored. This is not to imply that the works at the People of Color Arts Festival would fit with the ideals of 1930's Germany, but the purpose of the show is definitely not art for art's sake.

Typically, when an art show opens, the job of the reviewer is to critique the work presented. But what happens when the work is overshadowed by the goal of the show? What if the purpose is not to present great works of art, but to provide a forum for a specific segment of the population, regardless of what the final product is.

There are a few pieces that stand out brilliantly, such as the installation by college junior Prentiss Slaughter, "In the Process," made out of wood, metal, burlap, charcoal and potatoes. It was also an interesting idea to include work by Oberlin resident Elsa Cruz Pearson, who is now a student at Stanford. Other pieces though, such as college senior Jeffrey Arellano-Cabusao's "Balikbayan Dreams, Balikbayan Realities... Remembering my Lola," are just plain political statements, not contributing anything new artistically.

With the opening of the People of Color Arts Festival at Third World House, the viewer is left with a dilemma - critique the art or commend the goal. As college junior Nyasha Warren said, "The purpose of the festival was to give people of color a place to display their work. When you go to an art show, you can see maybe one artist of color, but we needed to bring them together." And the organizers accomplished this - everything that was submitted to the festival was accepted.

Sniping heard by Warren that the show is exclusive misses the point. Coalition building is necessary, but coalition building carried to an extreme can serve to rebury the minority group. Along with building coalitions, every community needs to nurture itself as well.

So the organizers of the festival accomplished their goal. The artists had complete control, every piece was accepted and people who normally don't show their work had the opportunity. Therein lies the problem. There's a reason why all of the people in the show don't normally display their work.

As a gathering place, the festival worked beautifully. Everyone involved was able to come away feeling that they participated in something special. As an art exhibit, though, the festival left much to be desired.