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The World Monuments Fund lists 67 cultural sites still threatened in 2014. ArtTable members Marla Mossman and Janet Goldner have intimate understanding of the issues in respective geographical areas: Marla on The Silk Road, and Janet on Mali. Each is an artist and a cultural ambassador to these areas of the world that have important and impressive ancient cultural sites and monuments. Join us for two presentations and a moderated discussion on strategies for protecting cultural monuments and heritage threatened with destruction.
Janet’s work was selected for
2 Curate NY 2013 online exhibitions!
Curator: Jan Seidler Ramirez, Chief Curator & Director of Collections, National September 11 Memorial Museum & Curators: Kristopher Johnson & Florence Poulain, Co-Owners, Deep Tanks
This roundtable assembled a variety of academics and policy makers working in Mali in different areas, and from different perspectives. We come together to discuss ways to build a durable peace, responsible government and vibrant civil society in Mali.
Part 1 focused on the political, military, and economic dimensions of the crisis and the future and included Greg Mann, historian, Columbia University, Bruce Whitehouse, anthropologist, LeHigh University, Bruce Hall, historian, Duke University, Jamie Bleck, political scientist, Notre Dame University, William Moseley, geographer, Macalester College.
Part 2 focused on inter-ethnic relations, the arts, and the Tuareg communities’ role in the future of the Malian nation state. Panelists were Kassim Kone, anthropologist, SUNY Cortland, Mike Simsik, Former Peace Corp Director, Mali, Susan Rasmussen, anthropologist, University of Houston, Janet Goldner, independent scholar/artist, Barbara Hoffman, anthropologist, Cleveland State University
Goldner’s installation, Interesting Times, is on view as part of the Farm Project 2013.
Curated by Collaborative Concepts
Sculptures by over 60 artists
Goldner’s work is mentioned in a review of the Farm Project. Click here
Interesting Times is a series of 12 banners that present images of cultural sites in countries where there have been recent upheavals along with images of protests. The individual banners are 1′ x 4′ & are strung together & suspended like prayer flags or laundry.
The countries included are Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Syria, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Brazil as well as Occupy & Wisconsin. The cultural context is usually missing from reports in the media.
The intension is to show their rich cultural heritage that is important to all of us & the depth of the global crisis.
Janet Goldner: Art and Life
A lovely article about Janet’s work in Persimmon Tree
Janet Goldner is a sculptor whose work crosses many cultures, focusing on the “beauty and genius of each as well as what we have in common.” She has been involved with African cultures since her undergraduate days at Antioch College, traveling first to Ghana and, years later, to Zimbabwe and South Africa. Goldner’s longest and deepest association has been with Mali where she has spent several months every year since the mid-1990s. She has mentored women artists and helped to create employment for rural women through textile projects. She is also involved in an ongoing collaboration with contemporary artists. Her annual visits to Mali fuel much of her work.
The African Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division at the
Library of Congress presents
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mali
a lecture by Janet Goldner, Scholar and Sculptor
The African & Middle Eastern Division Reading Room
LJ-220 Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. SE
Washington, DC 20540
Here’s a link to a videocast of the lecture.
For additional information contact: Marieta Harper (202) 707–1960 or mhar@loc.gov
Goldner conducted a two week workshop for young professional visual artists. Inspired by a process originated by the renowned feminist art critic, Arlene Raven, participants examined the reasons and context of their artistic production in order to deepen their understanding of their work and learn how to present their work. The workshop also emphasizes community building amongst artists. During a second workshop related workshop, the artists collaborated on an installation which was exhibited in First Floor Gallery Harare.
Press:
The Zimbabwean: US artist grooms local talent
NewsDay:First Floor Gallery Engages New York Artist
Panorama Magazine: Artist Janet Goldner on Zimbabwe
Solo Exhibition
Transculture refers to the act of uniting people from different backgrounds and cultures in an effort to exchange varied perspectives and contexts. An exchange of this sort can potentially yield global/universal similarities and specific cultural differences. It is a way for people to think together while contributing beliefs and strategies from their individual experiences. Careful attention must be paid to power relations in order to maximize the interaction. As the work continues over a long period of time, the result can be an identity that is not exclusively linked to a geographic location or ethnicity but to new cultural and conceptual realms. Dialogues in the Visual Arts is a theme-based visual arts program focusing on the work of multiple artists sharing one bill and moderated by critics, gallery owners and curators.
moderated by Janet Goldner;
panelists: Hector Canonge, Lydia Matthews, Kandioura Coulibaly & Kletigui Dembele
Common Threads brought together artists of two of the world’s most vibrant contemporary textile traditions: The Quilters of Gee’s Bend and the Groupe Bogolan Kasobane, bogolan masters from Mali. This visual art performance/demonstration featured artists of the two traditions working simultaneously on their respective art pieces during the course of a week-long residency. Panel discussions and lectures explored each art form and the artists that practice it, the similarities between the art forms, and cultural memory patterns included in both groups’ artistic expressions. The program was developed by Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center with ArtPlay Teaching Artist Sharrif Simmons. New York artist Janet Goldner acted as a cultural and language translator for the project.
Goldner’s installation, Wealth in Africa, is on view as part of the Farm Project 2011.
Curated by Collaborative Concepts
Sculptures by over 60 artists
Mid-run Reception: Saturday, October 1, 1-6pm (Rain: October 2, 1-6pm)
Open daily to the public. Free of charge. Dawn to dusk.
From north or south on Route 9 turn east on Travis Corners Road, opposite Garrison Gulf Club, take to end. Turn left on Old Albany Post Road, approx. 1/2 mile to parking. Call 265-taxi from MetroNorth RR, Garrison Station.
Curator: Carl E. Hazlewood
Artists presenting new work: Kevin Darmanie, Janet Goldner, Grace Graupe Pillard, C. Duane Lee, Freddy Rodriguez, Fausto Sevila
Artists from the Collection: Alec Soth, Will Barnett, Bob Blackburn, Carl Ostendarp, Willie Cole, Don Hazlitt, Emma Wilcox, Eikoh Hosoe
“Janet Goldner spends much time in Mali. She makes free-standing steel sculptures and wall-bound installations that reference her artistic lineage going back to the welded sculpture of Julio Gonzalez. But the work also displays her social consciousness and her deep continuing interest in African art.” Carl E. Hazlewood
Aljira
info@aljira.org / aljira.org