Immigrant Artists Exchange: Discussing the Locality
Join us in this discussion between artists Idalia Vasquez-Achury and Sinta Penyami Storms about their process of making art as migrants to the US, and how they define their expressive forms within the multiple racial identities they carry. In the conversation, we will explore how the term ‘diaspora’ functions when thinking about the locality of their practices.
First in-person event for the Community of Images exhibition programs, this conversation opens up interpretive possibility of the project to include the consideration of immigrant artists’ experience of art making in the US. Navigating a complex landscape of dislocation and new connections is a common experience among immigrant artists working outside their homelands. On April 20, Fleisher Art Memorial will host a discussion between Colombian born photographer Idalia Vasquez-Achury and Indonesian dancer/community advocate Sinta Penyami Storms where they will explore what it means to make art across nationalities, racial identities, and diasporic communities.
This event aims to spark a conversation that will continue through the Community of Images exhibition. What stories are specific to immigrant Americans? Which cross-cultural experiences are universal, and which are confined to certain historical eras? What is the role of art in both generating common ground and underlining locally-specific experiences?
The two featured artists have a rich experience of these delicate issues. Vasquez-Achury uses photography and large-scale photographic installations to explore both the dynamism and fragility of the contemporary diasporic experience. Storms’ MODERO Dance Company works to preserve traditional Indonesian culture through dance and community-building, while connecting that central project with struggles over social justice, race and gender equality, and colonialism.
This program is co-presented by Collaborative Cataloging Japan and the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia in partnership with Fleisher Art Memorial.
The Community of Images exhibition’s major support has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Toshiba International Foundation, Pola Art Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Back to Community of Images exhibition page.
Idalia Vasquez-Achury is a Colombian born photographer who resides and works in Philadelphia, PA. Through photography, large-scale photographic installations, and artists books, she explores both the dynamism and fragility of the contemporary diasporic experience. Her work also integrates memories of her childhood in Colombia to explore their traces (both joyful and painful) in her mind and in her body. Her monumental photographic installations take a sculptural life that confront us with our own identity. Idalia Vasquez-Achury obtained a BA in graphic design in Bogotá, Colombia. In the United States, she received a BFA in photography at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, as well as an MFA in photography at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. Currently teaching at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, she is the winner of the 97 th Annual Award in 2023 at the Print Center in Philadelphia. She will have a solo show in July 2024 at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. Follow her: idaliavasquez.com
As the founder and Artistic Director of MODERO Dance Company, Sinta Penyami Storms elevates the notion of traditional dance to a community-based group. Founded in 2011 in South Philadelphia, Modero’s goal is to preserve traditional Indonesian culture through dance and community involvement. Dance is a way to express joy and tradition. Sinta understood that it was not enough to survive, to get roots in a more universal context. By linking the Indonesian community of Philadelphia with the challenges of local and national immigrants, she started a conversation to promote social justice, race and gender equality. Indonesia, with its 300 years of colonialism, taught her that exoticism is not the way to promote her culture. With the Modero Dance Company, she offers us an example of a community that not only brings people together through an art form but also offers a larger space for a dialog with other communities. Sinta Penyami Storms gives Indonesian Dance Class at Fleisher Art Memorial. Follow her: sintapenyami.com
Community of Images: Japanese Moving Image Artists in the US, 1960s - 1970s
Community of Images: Japanese Moving Image Artists in the US, 1960s-1970s will be an exhibition of experimental moving images created by Japanese artists in the U.S. during the 1960s and 70s, an area that has fallen in the fissure between American and Japanese archival priorities.
This project is co-presented by Collaborative Cataloging Japan and the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia in partnership with Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts. Major support has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Toshiba International Foundation, Pola Art Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.