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NAME:Indianapolis Public Library 
X-WR-CALNAME:Indianapolis Public Library 
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:ba5fff4b-0c19-4583-b523-13c210cbdd2c
SEQUENCE:0
DTSTAMP:20260716T232353Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Indiana/Indianapolis:20231202T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/Indiana/Indianapolis:20231202T140000
SUMMARY:Mirrors of Common Destiny Art Exhibit Reception
LOCATION:Central Library\nCentral Library
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Central Library;X-APPLE-RA
 DIUS=10;X-TITLE=Central Library:geo:39.7793029,-86.1568697
GEO:39.7793029;-86.1568697
DESCRIPTION:Join us for for the Mirrors of Common Destiny art reception.  
 We will have a guest speaker and a presentation from one of the artists\, 
 Jean Claude Lofenia. The reception will provide insight to the cultures\, 
 history\, and the artists themselves from Burma and the Democratic Republi
 c of Congo..\nhttps://indianapolis.libnet.info/event/9305316
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<p><strong>The Mirrors of Common Destiny Exhi
 bit will run from November 14th to December 29th\, 2023 hosted by Patchwor
 k Indy</strong>.</p>\n<p>Artists from Burma and the Democratic Republic of
  Congo (DRC) will be featured. The curators of this show are Saw Kennedy f
 rom the Karen State of Burma and Jean Claude Lofenia from DRC. Many additi
 onal artists will also be featured and have sent their work from their hom
 e countries to be displayed at The Indianapolis Public Library.&nbsp\;</p>
 \n<p>After the event\, join us in the Clowes auditorium for a short perfor
 mance from the Burmese American Community Institute (BACI).&nbsp\;</p>\n<p
 >See our book list: <a href="https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1
 911585429_indypl_glorianyp/2330241429_cultures_of_central_africa%20">Cultu
 res of Central Africa</a> and&nbsp\;&nbsp\;<a href="https://indypl.biblioc
 ommons.com/list/share/2072214049_indypl_lianam/2079602449_windows_into_bur
 ma">Windows Into Burma</a></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><strong>Biography of the Curat
 ors:&nbsp\;</strong></p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Saw Kennedy<br /><br /></stron
 g>Born in a 1973 in a small Karen village in Karen State\, Myanmar (also k
 nown as Burma)\, Saw Kennedy was forced to flee to Thailand to escape his 
 country's repressive military government. Arriving first at Umpiem\, a ref
 ugee camp along the&nbsp\;Thailand/Burma border\, Kennedy joined the march
  of thousands of other Karen people&nbsp\;fearing their&nbsp\;villages wou
 ld be the next target for the government labor program and&nbsp\;ethnic pe
 rsecution. He&nbsp\;fled Myanmar with his wife who carried their unborn ch
 ild\, his son Junior Kennedy.<br /><br />Saw Kennedy's artistic career beg
 an in 1988\, the same year as the "8-8-88 Uprising" in Myanmar. He comes f
 rom a family of talented artists and originally founded a gallery with his
  three artistic brothers in Mawlamine\, Mon State\, Myanmar. After arrivin
 g in Umpiem refugee camp\, Kennedy became the Youth Development Art Direct
 or and in 2005\, moved to Mae Sot\, Thailand. For years\, he lived in Mae 
 Sot and worked with the local community as a teacher and painter.&nbsp\;Th
 rough the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program\, Kennedy&nbsp\;resettled to Sea
 ttle in 2008. His artwork has been featured in the Vidya Gallery. In 2019\
 , he&nbsp\;moved to Ft. Wayne\, Indiana\, where he&nbsp\;currently resides
 . <br /><br />Saw uses a unique charcoal method. He also expresses himself
  through the mediums of watercolor and acrylic.&nbsp\;He is&nbsp\;the Lead
  Organizer for the&nbsp\;U&amp\;I Artist Group\, a creative collaborative 
 of artists from Myanmar (Burma) and the United States.&nbsp\;​U&amp
 \;I was started in order to connect the diverse peoples of Myanmar and&nbs
 p\;the United States through art and other creative mediums. He is also&nb
 sp\;the Lead Artistic Curator for&nbsp\;Window to the Soul: A Burma Art Ex
 hibition\, which is the largest collection of Myanmar artwork to be exhibi
 ted&nbsp\;in the United States. Saw is active within his community engagin
 g youth and adult leadership alike from the various Burma ethnic nationali
 ties\, and is a committed intercultural bridge builder.</li>\n<li><strong>
 Jean Claude Lofenia<br /><br /></strong>Jean Claude Lofenia was born in Ki
 nshasa\, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He taught himself how to pain
 t at the age of nine and later gained well known mentors in Kinshasa as an
  adult. Artistic expression has become a vital necessity of life for him t
 o process the history of the country due to colonization and war. Through 
 art\, many have found that this is a form of activism- Jean Claude Lofenia
  was one of those artists who found a voice through artistic expression.<b
 r /><br />Before Jean Claude was born\, a movement emerged in the 1960s\, 
 through the independence of Belgium\, known as popular painting or pop art
 . This genre portrays everyday scenes of Congolese life\, as well as episo
 des from the country&rsquo\;s tumultuous history. Following the characteri
 stics of a comic strip\, the paintings depict everything that happens in t
 he city and in this way\, becomes a chronicle of the street. Moreover\, th
 ey are often playful and humorous\, while the messages conveyed are earnes
 t and\, in some cases\, violent. In fact\, this genre is described as an a
 rt that arose from the people and reflects their daily concerns.<br /><br 
 />The current government opposes expressions or interpretation of current 
 and past history\, forcing Jean Claude to seek refuge in the U.S. While in
 itially generating little interest abroad for a number of years\, the genr
 e gained international recognition in the early 2000s. Jean Claude&rsquo\;
 s speciality is oil\, acrylic\, and water based paints.&nbsp\;</li>\n</ul>
 \nhttps://indianapolis.libnet.info/event/9305316
URL;VALUE=URI:https://indianapolis.libnet.info/event/9305316
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