What do human rights abuses look like? How do
they feel? What difference do they make to our lives? These and
other questions will be examined at the Second Annual Visualizing
Human Rights Anti-Conference from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov.
14, at UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union. The event will
bring together visual and performance artists to put a human face on
human rights in an effort to reach beyond traditional academic
approaches. The event is free and open to the public; lunch will be
provided.
Events include a welcoming dance by UNC Asheville students;
screenings of documentaries by Mel Chin; a performance by the local
Spanish language theatrical group Teatro de Asheville; poetry by
DeWayne Barton; music by Cantaria; a panel discussion by noted
photographers; and more.
The conference is sponsored by UNC Asheville's Amnesty International
Student Chapter, UNC Chapel Hill's Center for Global Initiatives,
Duke University's Human Rights Center and Elon University's
Political Science Department.
Registration for the conference is suggested. To register in advance
and to see complete schedule of events, click on
www.unc.edu/vhr. Walk-up
registration will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Two additional events associated with the conference are also
scheduled.
UNC Asheville's Center for Jewish Studies will host "A Jerusalem
Between Us," a one-man play written and performed by Aaron Davidman,
at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at UNC Asheville's Lipinsky
Auditorium. In the show, Davidman gives voice to characters from
various places – from a socialist summer camp in New York to the
Western Wall in Jerusalem. The play addresses recent controversies
that are divisive to Americans and American Jews. The event is free
and open to the public.
The Global Playback Theatre will perform "Human Rights: Stories of
Resilience and Hope" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, in UNC
Asheville's Alumni Hall, Highsmith University Union. The event is a
participatory experience in which audience members share their
personal stories about human insights. The actors then perform the
stories on stage. Donations will be collected at the door.
For more information, call Mark Gibney, UNC Asheville Professor of
Political Science and Belk Chair of Humanities, at 828/250-3870.
