Call for Work

The Icon Industry:
The Visual Economy of Human Rights

Deadline for Submissions:  October 16, 2013
Opening: November 4, 2013

The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is seeking works of art—in all visual mediums—for a fall exhibit: The Icon Industry: The Visual Economy of Human Rights. The call for work is open to all graduate and undergraduate students.

The term “visual economy” in art is commonly defined as a minimalist approach. But, what happens when this search for simplicity becomes a standard for representation of human rights? Often one iconic image comes to define events, groups or issues, boiling down the complexity into a singular representation that we grab onto as the “right” image. For example, how has the 1984 National Geographic cover image photographed by Steve McCurry of then-refugee Sharbat Gula, known as “the Afghan girl” come to represent—even today in Western culture—a population of Afghan women? It is arguably one of the iconic images of the 20^th century, forever referential.

This exhibit asks artists to explore, critique, and/or celebrate the notion of the iconic image in human rights issues as seen in our news media. Artists are encouraged to approach the work through a sense of awareness, examining the role of the image, creation of icons, the role of the image subject as a human rights agent and as a symbol, the use of simplicity in visual communication and/or our image obsession. Repurposing iconic and other images depicting human rights subjects/issues is allowed and encouraged in the debate, but respect must be given to the subject of the image. Further, artists are asked to consider how their work contributes to the continued dialog overall. This exhibit aims to call awareness, and in doing so create a space for reflection on our current state of visual rhetoric, but also look forward to a more engaged public in the ethics of representation.

Submissions and questions should be emailed to:
caitlin.kelly@duke.edu
Caitlin Margaret Kelly
2013-2014 Kenan Graduate Arts Fellow

As the academic year has come to a close, undergraduates in Kenan programs are trading classrooms for exciting new opportunities around the globe. The students in KIE’s DukeEngage: Dublin program will be learning about the immigrant experience in Ireland’s capital city through engagement with local communities and organizations. The two students in this year’s Kenan Summer Fellows program will be traveling to Greenland and Korea to delve into projects exploring ethical dimensions of globalization and adoption. In a new endeavor, Kenan is continuing its relationship with the World Food Programme in Nepal through a summer intern who will aid the WFP in evaluating the effectiveness of its educational and assistance programs. All of these students will be writing back to KIE throughout the summer with reflections on their experiences.

Check out the new hub for student engagement journals for easy access to current and past journals kept by students in various KIE programs, and stay tuned for incoming updates from our far-flung correspondents!

Our far-flung Kenan Summer Fellows Cece Mercer and Christine Delp have written their first reflection journals for their summer projects exploring what it means to “live an ethical life.”  Be sure to read these and continued posts through the summer on the KSF journal page.

Together with a faculty mentor, the two undergraduates formulated projects that incorporate research and personal reflection. Cece is a Korean adoptee exploring the culture of adoption, both through interviewing other adoptees in the U.S. and through traveling to Korea to understand how the adoption process is viewed from the other side. Christine will be in Greenland, exploring the ways in which changing environmental and economic climates are affecting the lives of indigenous Inuit communities.

Twelve students from KIE’s DukeImmerse program “Uprooted/Rerouted” recited personal narratives of refugees collected during their field work in refugee camps in Egypt and Nepal earlier in the semester. The narratives revealed themes of hopefulness, despair, isolation, the strength of family, and more.

Video of the entire event, with an introduction, overviews of life for refugees in the two countries, and closing thoughts may be viewed in addition to each individual recitation on the KIE Youtube channel.

Stay tuned for an interactive site housing the videos and results of the students’ research later this summer.

Read about the performances on the Duke Today website.