9th Annual African Presence Exhibit Explores Memory, History & Art through Work by International African Artists

“Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion” exhibition is FREE to the public at NSU’s library gallery all month long, with opening reception on Feb. 2

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel once said “memory feeds a culture, nourishes hope and makes a human, human.” The artists whose work will be shown in Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) 9^th Annual African Presence Art Exhibition can relate to that sentiment.

That’s because the work of these 12 international artists explores the connections between cultural memory, history and the creation of art in the exhibition titled Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion.

The exhibition consists of more than 60 paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media creations by renowned master artists of African descent. It will be on view Feb. 2 through March 28, 2012 in the Second Floor Gallery of NSU’s Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center, located at 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Boulevard in Davie.

Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion is organized by NSU in collaboration with the Florida Africana Studies Consortium, and demonstrates the importance of visual and related expressive forms of culture to the development and remembrance of kinship.

“Within the global Pan-African world, art production psychically remembers identities through validating and refreshing experiences,” curator Babacar Mbow said. “The pivotal argument here is that through art, histories and traditions are vivified and become vessels of memory. In this psychological framework, memory is not passive and the mind is not simply a repository from which memories can be retrieved.”

Upcoming events related to the exhibit include:

• Grand Opening Reception for “Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion,” African Presence 2012 9th Annual Art Exhibition
  Thursday, Feb. 2 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
  Evening will feature refreshments, giveaways, musical entertainment, dance and step performances. Free Opening Reception will be held in NSU’s Don Taft University Center. Exhibition will be unveiled at 8 p.m. in NSU’s Alvin Sherman Library and is then on display through March 28. For more information or to RSVP, call 954-262-5357 or send email to serioux@nova.edu.

FREE guided tours of the exhibition are being scheduled and additional Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion events are pending. 

Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion is part of the university’s 9th Annual African Presence Art Exhibition and 2012 Black History Month celebration, which includes a month long calendar of compelling discussions, engaging performances, educational workshops and dynamic speakers. Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion is sponsored by NSU’s Office of University Relations.

The exhibition is FREE and open to the public at NSU’s Alvin Sherman Library during the following hours:

• Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information about Contemporary African Diaspora Memory in Motion, please call (954) 262-5350. For more information about NSU’s extensive offering of Black History Month events, please visit www.nova.edu/blackhistory.

About Nova Southeastern University: Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 28,000 students and is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate’s, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.  Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University’s significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement.   For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.

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Media Contact:
Andra Liwag, NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5309 office, 954-873-8494 cell, andrali@nova.edu