First
Student Exhibition Debuts at Here Here Gallery
by Cat Richert
For
the first time since Oberlin College aquired use of the Here Here
Gallery in downtown Cleveland, the space will be entirely dedicated
to student work. Entitled Translations of Ashe. Transforming Spaces:
Art as Ritual, the show will display the work of professor Adenike
Sharpleys students who have been enrolled in her class Ritual
and Performance I: The world according to the Yoruba and their descendants
in the New World this semester.
The Yoruba are a people with a common heritage of speech and tradition
rather than a so-called nation-state. Although most
people who speak Yoruba live in Nigeria, the influence of the Yoruba
language is far-reaching; its influence can be seen in many cultures
all over the world such as, Brazil and Cuba. The Oberlin course
book describes the class as an exploration of religious phenomena,
performance, and artistic agency of the Yoruba and their
descendants. In turn, the main focus of the class was on ritual,
ancestory and its place in art to help the students create their
own nommo, the Yoruban word for the construct of a ritual.
Now turn to Here Here Gallery in the busy Playhouse Square in downtown
Cleveland. Through dance, spoken word, installation and other forms
of expression, Sharpleys students will display their constructions
of ritual. For some of Sharpleys students, like sophomore
Rachel Schaffran, the content of the class has proven to be quite
a journey; this can be seen in Schaffrans combined performace
and installation piece. It is basically the physical manifestation
of my connection to my ancestry. In addition to the Yoruba, Ive
learned a lot about my family and about myself, Schaffran
said. Schaffran feels that these realizations are consistent with
the classs emphasis on ritual. Ritual, as defined
by the class is a space or act, in which the physical and
spiritual meet, that soothes, heals, aligns and suspends,
Schaffran said. This could be anything from going to McDonalds
with your best friend every Thursday night to being mounted by spirits.
Similarly, Amanda Gill also pays homage to her ancestors, and specifically
her mother in her dance and sculpture piece. In my ritual
I am honoring my mom, Teri, in the presence of the Yoruban orisha
Oshun, writes Gill in her artists statement. My
mother is ill with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that has no cure,
in the Western doctors book of medicine. Therefore I am seeking
from the god of medicine, Babalu Aye, another cure. Gill describes
the physical elements of her work as a yellow doll-like figurine
of my mother
with beads and gold transforming her into a queen.
With the body of my mother in my hands, I will work the spirit through
dance and transmit it into her.
The Here Here Gallery is highly conspicuous to a broader audience
due to its location, and this factor played a role in the students
creations. Its been a process thats involved a
lot of synthesizing of the things weve learned in the class,
studying ourselves and really evaluating whats important to
ourselves, and coming up with a way to piece those together,
sophomore participant Tim Gibbon said. Since these projects
are pretty personal and intimate, putting them up in a big public
gallery may make me feel a bit exposed but I feel good about
it, and I think were all going to be really proud when the
exhibit finally pulls together.
Schaffran feels similarly about having her work displayed in such
a respected and exposed venue. A big theme of it is accountability
so it was more about being true to myself than worrying about any
specific audience. Its a strange thing to put on display in
a gallery, but I am very proud of it I put an immense amount of
time into it, and people can think what they want. I think they
will get the message, she said.
But it seems this knowledge of exposure due to the interdisciplinary
nature of Sharpleys class has allowed participating students
to re-evaluate their own ideas about art and expression. Schaffran
admitted that the class has been a deciding factor in her decision
to pursue a visual arts major. This is the biggest and most
personal thing I have ever created
this class opened up a
completely new channel of my expression.
A
reception will be held Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. Translations of Ashe. Transforming
Spaces: Art as Ritual will be at Here Here Gallery through Jan.
25.
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