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ART WORKS Projects is pleased to announce our spring exhibition Sanctuary/Sustenance: The Story of Many Journeys. Through photographs, moving graphics, and music, viewers have an opportunity to trace the journey of a family during the catastrophic events of displacement, on a path to sanctuary, and through the long process of rebuilding life in a new community. Sanctuary/Sustenance aims to raise the public consciousness of these issues to a wide variety of people, and facilitate conversations about our collective responsibility to welcome refugees and encourage policy makers to act in favor of fundamental human rights for refugees and asylum seekers.
An estimated 1.3 million refugees in the United States are believed to be survivors of politically sanctioned torture, according to the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT). Those who have survived torture or other forms of direct, conflict-related persecution often face significant challenges that serve as additional barriers in the resettlement process.
Understanding the issues facing refugees who are survivors of torture is important to ensuring that medical, mental health, and social services support healing while these individuals navigate resettlement. Living on the Margins – Refugees Surviving Torture and Beyond explores the effects of torture and trauma in conflict settings and the healing support needed as refugees resettle. Speakers and community members will engage in discussion about this vulnerable refugee population to support integration into host communities through better understanding their past experience and its impact on their daily lives.
Speakers
Marianne Joyce, LCSW – Majorie Kovler Center, Social Services Manager
Alisa Roadcup – Executive Director, Heshima Kenya
Wendy Pearlman – Associate Professor at Northwestern University, author of We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled: Voices from Syria (June 2017)
Abdinasir Kahin – former refugee from Somalia, resettled in Chicago in 2002
Sanctuary/Sustenance photographer Misael Virgen (San Diego) will also give a short presentation on his experience shooting for this exhibition.