Right to Return In the NO today & tomorrow
Posted on | August 28, 2010 | No Comments
Right to Return
L9 CENTER FOR THE ARTS PRESENTS THE ANNUAL KATRINA CELEBRATION
New Orleans, LA
Saturday August 28, 2010
5pm-9pm
Sunday August 29, 2010
11am-6pm
539 Caffin Avenue
The Lower Ninth Ward, 70117
L9 Center for the Arts recognizes the determined residents in our community who continue to persevere in this struggle to return to New Orleans. For the past five years Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick have documented through photographs and video the people of the city as they make their transitions back to New Orleans. This work will be displayed in an exhibition entitled Right to Return and will grace the walls of the L9 Center for the Arts. Visitors to the gallery will not only see photographs of the return of the people of New Orleans but will also witness how photographing the community was part of Calhoun and McCormick’s own healing process, as the photographers worked to rebuild their own lives in the 9th ward while being inspired by their neighbors. On display will be photographs of New Orleans and its people from before and after Hurricane Katrina, including works printed from negatives washed by the flood that had been stored in a salvaged refrigerator. Right to Return is curated by Dr. Deborah Willis, chair of the department of photography and imaging at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Images from this show have also been featured in August 2010 issue of Aperture Magazine. Supporters of the “Right to Return” Exhibit include the Ford Foundation and Lambent Foundation Fund of the Tides Foundation, Open Society Institute, of the Soros Foundation.
An opening reception will be held August 28, 2010 from 5pm to 9pm at 539 Caffin Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward and the exhibition will remain open for viewing from August 28 through October 2, 2010. L9 hours are 11am-6pm Tuesday – Sunday. Contact Chandra McCormick at (504 948-0056) for more information.
Biographic information:
Chandra McCormick, born August 27,1957 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Keith Calhoun, born January 1,1955, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Calhoun and McCormick are documentary photographers whose work has chronicled the city of New Orleans unique cultural traditional ceremonies, and spiritual churches. Their work has highlighted the back roads of Louisiana, covering the Sugar Cane and Sweet Potato Fields workers of East Carrol Parish and a vanishing way of life for people who at one time worked in fields of Louisiana. Calhoun and McCormick have been documenting the last days of manual labor in the fields of Louisiana, as technology and machinery has began to replace the physical labor that was once performed by people.
Back in New Orleans, Calhoun and McCormick continue to work and have created an art center in the Lower 9th Ward called L9 Center for the Arts. They showcase their works, and the works of other artists. For the past five years Calhoun and McCormick have been making images and restoring work from their collection which was waterlogged during Hurricane Katrina.
Keith and Chandra continue their commitment to being keepers of the culture.
Tags: Chandra McCormick > Deborah Willis > Keith Calhoun > L9 Center for the Arts > New Orleans
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