Allies or Aliens? Collaborating Across Cultures

A 4-person panel will examine issues of power and privilege in socially engaged collaborations involving artists from dramatically different communities. They will describe cross-cultural projects in Mali, Venezuela, the Republic of Georgia, and the repatriation from Norway of a 19th-century Mexican woman’s remains. The panelists, who all have long commitments to their adopted communities, will discuss the tensions between artists from developed and developing countries, the sustainability of projects beyond their initial implementation, and the pros and cons of grant- and self-funded projects.