By Naomi Hofferber
A diverse array of cultures, perspectives, and lifestyles have been given a platform through art.
ARTiculate Yourself, an art show hosted by earthwords literary magazine, Translate Iowa Project, Black Art, Real Stories, and Outreach, Admissions, Scholarships & Inclusion Services, was created to help give representation to a variety of individuals and allow them to express themselves through art.
“It’s to show how art allows us to articulate our cultural and linguistic differences and emphasize the importance of bringing those differences to the surface and come together to see the similarities and the differences in a relaxed, comfortable setting of art, writing, and music,” said Bryan Flavin, the president of the Translate Iowa Project.
The show featured various works from seven individuals in the University of Iowa who expressed pieces of their identities through their art.
Natalia Welzenbach-Marcu, the art editor of earthwords and media and design director for Outreach, helped plan the event.
“It doesn’t help anybody to be afraid of someone because their culture is different from their own,” Welzenbach-Marcu said. “I understand the saying everyone is essentially the same inside, but I also think it’s important to recognize that there are very vast differences between cultures and that’s OK.”
Welzenbach-Marcu had work featured in a project with Ashley Chong featuring poetry that showcased their bilingual and trilingual backgrounds. She said that differences in individuals and cultures can be presented best through universal media, such as art and music.
UI sophomore Elaine Irvine had an intaglio print depicting numerous faces featured in the show.
“I always love drawing faces; I always sketch faces, so that was part of it, but I didn’t want to do the same faces over and over again, so I drew a huge array of them; it got me in mindset of the strangers that we’re always around,” Irvine said. “They all have their own stories and their own experiences, and we only ever see their faces.”
Irvine said it’s important to have numerous perspectives represented through every medium; art, journalism, and politics, and shows such as this can help inform people from different paths of life.
“If you’re looking to educate yourself or open your mind or learn more about stuff you already know or just want to see some cool art; I think it’s a good place to start,” Irvine said. “It’s good to go somewhere with different perspectives with identities behind it.”
Even though Flavin is graduating, both he and Welzenbach-Marcu hope to hold more events like this in the future.
“I think first and foremost it’s about providing a platform for people who may sometimes be underrepresented and providing the platform so they’re understood,” Flavin said. “Providing that space where the exchange can happen in a very comfortable setting, and that being an art showcase or that being a concert with music or a performance where across cultural and linguistic boundaries a lot remains the same.”