Travelling Exhibit Opportunity!

Institutions interested in anthropological topics may find this traveling exhibit a once in a lifetime opportunity! Contact Rachel Drochter at the Anthropology Museum at Northern Illinois University for more information- rdrochter@niu.edu

Organizer: The Anthropology Museum at Northern Illinois University

Exhibition Length: 3 months

Content: Multimedia video, text panels, and objects.  A condensed version is available upon request

Security: Moderate

Space Requirement: 1,500 – 2,000 sq. ft.

Participation Fee: $5,000. 50% off to all members of the Small Museums Association

Shipping & Insurance: Exhibitor is responsible

FRAGMENTS EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION

Haiti’s earthquake was one of the top five deadliest disasters in the contemporary world, claiming between 65,000 and 316,000 lives. Haiti’s disaster was also arguably the most mediatized in modern history. Media images highlighted the exceptional, macabre, and gruesome. These accounts dehumanized Haiti and Haitian people, while focusing disproportionate attention on the good intention and generosity of humanitarian actors. International media attention helped raise $5.6 billion in official funds for the first two years following the earthquake.

What happened? Where did the money go? Three years following the earthquake, international media attention on Haiti has diminished quite significantly. Living conditions have only improved slightly and are still among the worst in the world. One index of the collective failures includes the existence of almost 350,000 people still living under tents in scores of camps.

Installation components include a wind-and-sun battered tent and tarp and artifacts of household/tent life. To demonstrate the increasing risks of forced eviction, the exhibit also includes the charred remains of a tent from an act of arson by armed paramilitaries in a recent case of forced evictions. Finally, exhibit panels explore the life histories and living conditions of several Haitian women living “under the tents.” The installation is called Fragments to acknowledge the often disparate lived realities now in relative shadows. It aims to move visitors to reflect on the people surviving, building community, making art, raising families, and challenging their situation as activists, and to recall the bonds that already exist between us.

http://www.niu.edu/anthro_museum/