Guest-curated exhibition showcases an artist exhange between Egypt and the United States
The Mattress Factory Art Museum presents Sites Of Passage an exhibition on view through January 8, 2012 with new and context-specific work by artists from Egypt and the United States.
This exhibition is the final exposé of the first “dig” of The Firefly Tunnels Project. The project began in August of 2010 when artist, workshop leader, and co-curator Tavia La Follette went to Egypt to begin the exchange.
The project is a dialogue between Egypt and the United States during Egypt’s fight for democracy, as the U.S. enters the 10th anniversary of 9/11, executes its architect, questions its own democracy and as both countries go into an election for a new leader.
Performance and installation artists from both Egypt and the U.S. converse through a virtual lab/website, where they exchange ideas and materials. The commonality between both sides of the “tunnel”/website is that the artists have gone through an intensive workshop with La Follette. It is during this workshop that the artists explore a common symbolic based language or code of communication. The workshop’s focus on art as a deeper language of communication, dealing with such topics as religion, culture and identity, while also examining how to use virtual art as a force for social change.
Independent curator Katherine Talcott and Tavia La Follette are working together selecting pieces for the virtual gallery, which is open to the public. From the virtual gallery ideas will be transformed into the tangible exhibit, SITES OF PASSAGE, at the Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibit will consist of live performance, video, and sound and site-specific installations. The website and the global critique of the work is also part of the installation. Egyptians will be coming to the Mattress Factory museum to work on-site with U.S. based artists. Live feeds to Egypt, community outreach, educational outreach and programming are also part of the exhibit.
Mattress Factory
500 Sampsonia Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
www.mattress.org
Image: Mattress Factory Art Museum