An exhibit opening in Harrisonburg this weekend showcases the work of local teenagers with refugee backgrounds. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
"Dreams Unfolding" is a collection of art and writing that was produced by 20-some teenagers during a six-week workshop this summer. Elisabeth Kvernen, an assistant professor at James Madison University, led the camp with help from Church World Service and faculty from Eastern Mennonite University.
ELISABETH KVERNEN: It was designed to give participants tools to frame and tell their own story, so hoping to give them ways to express themselves through writing, through collage, dance and movement, and hoping that they can become comfortable and empowered to tell their story to others, particularly in the larger community.
She taught the kids about photographic collage-making. They came to the States from Afghanistan, Congo, Eritrea, Mozambique, Rwanda, Syria, and Ukraine. Some have been here for years – others, just a few weeks.
KVERNEN: So we said, "in the beginning of this story …" you fill in, what was life like for you before? What was the beginning state? And it could have been before you moved to the U.S., before you moved to Harrisonburg, before you became a teenager, before you discovered basketball. … "And then there was a change," that was the second prompt, and that has to do with crossing or moving, changing location, changing your mind or your circumstances, so we let them decide what that change was. And then the third prompt, "a dream is now unfolding."
A gallery opening will be held this Sunday at 3 p.m. in the EMU library, and the exhibit will be up through the end of the month.
