War Dialogues Project & New IVAW Portfolio Preview on Nov.11 (Pittsburgh)
Posted November 10, 2011 by shaun in Events
Join the War Dialogues Project and Justseeds for an Armistice Day Event!
Featuring Stories and Art and Interactive Discussion about war and reconciliation from the perspectives of veterans and refugees living in the Pittsburgh area.
Pre-Release exhibition of War Is Trauma: a Justseeds/I.V.A.W. (Iraq Veterans Against the War) Portfolio featuring prints from over 30 artists, including veterans, on the subject of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and GI Resistance
Friday November 11th
6:00-8:00 Dialogues
8:00-10:00 Opening Reception for War Is Trauma: A Justseeds/I.V.A.W. Portfolio
at Justseeds Distribution HQ (Pittsburgh, PA)
3410 Penn Ave, Second Floor (enter in back on Spring Way)
Free and Open to the Public!
About the War Dialogues Project:
This project facilitates a reconciliation process between veterans and refugees of current wars using creative expression to transcend language and cultural boundaries and the unnamed barriers that occur when attempting to express a traumatic experience. Veterans and refugees are connected and meet regularly in pairs to communicate about their experiences on different sides of the same war or wars using different types of creative expression.
As artwork is created, it will be displayed periodically in an attempt to engage a larger local audience, reminding them that we are present in their communities. Exhibitions will include facilitated community dialogues as well as outreach for future events.
The project was created by a woman veteran and a woman refugee from Iraq and the project will continue to be developed from within those communities. The current participants will facilitate the same process for additional participants in the future.
About the War Is Trauma Portfolio:
War is Trauma, a print portfolio project co-organized by the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), is a graphic response to this crisis. Over 30 artists from Justseeds, IVAW, and their allies have each created a print that either addresses GI resistance or “Operation Recovery” – the IVAW campaign launched in 2010 that aims to stop the redeployment of traumatized troops, focus public attention towards Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), military sexual trauma (MST), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and ultimately prevent the US military from waging war in the Middle East.
IVAW writes “we recognize that we must stop the deployment of all soldiers in order to end these occupations, we see the deployment of soldiers with traumatic brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, and military sexual trauma as particularly cruel, dangerous, and inhumane. Military commanders across all branches are pushing service members far past human limits for the sake of combat readiness. We cannot allow those commanders to ignore the welfare of their troops. From multiple deployments despite PTSD, TBI, and other injuries, to rampant sexual assault within the military, soldiers are consistently being denied their right to heal. This basic right is being denied and we must organize to get it back."
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