Coming together: Artwork by refugee students on display at KWC

Apr. 15—Community members will have the opportunity to view artwork by refugee students beginning today at the Kolok Fine Arts Gallery in the Ralph Center for Fine Arts on the Kentucky Wesleyan College campus.

The show, which runs through April 28, will feature pieces by students from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma) and Ukraine, along with various others.

Owensboro Sister Cities and Regions partnered with the International Center on the show with the topic of "Food Security."

Laura Jones, youth and family services coordinator at the International Center, said the organizations wanted to provide students an opportunity to have artwork compete against students worldwide through a competition with Sister Cities International.

"This show is themed around food security so we're excited to see what the youth produced," she said. "They have a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to wanting food and hunger, especially those from the Congo, which is a large war zone."

Jones said some of the students talked about the difficulty of finding Halal foods in Owensboro.

"They have Halal meats and a special blessing they do for Islamic religion," she said. "They have to travel anywhere from an hour to two hours away to get those provisions for meals."

When the work on the exhibit began, Jones said the students brainstormed and were invited to collaborate with each other to answer questions.

"Some of those questions involved what food security means to them, if they've ever experienced hunger and how that impacted them, how their culture celebrates food and uses it to communication and what they can do to make a difference," she said.

Through answering the questions, there are different themes on the topic of food security that can be seen at the exhibit, like the piece titled "Fufu Feast" by Furaha Masumbuko.

"One of my clients' mother is seen preparing fufu, which is a traditional Congolese dough used as a vehicle to eat with stews, whereas we would use a fork, they would use fufu to dip in and take bites," Jones said.

The piece includes photographs of Masumbuko's mother preparing fufu.

"He was excited about sharing that culture and showing how she's adapted here in America," Jones said. "In the Congo, they didn't have gas stoves, and many of them didn't even have stoves at all to use."

Reem Dabeni is not a refugee student but moved to Owensboro from Ethiopia. Dabeni is one of three students from the Young Girls of Color Leaders who participated in the show.

Her piece, "Thoughtless Discard," is a take on the food waste that happens in America.

"This is about how how people throw away food when there are a lot of cultures and individuals who are left wanting and being mindful about our consumption," Jones said. "America particularly wastes tons and tons of scraps and food."

Afghan refugee Zohal Nazari's work, "Bountiful Blessing," shows rice grains falling from an ear of corn.

"They have a very mountainous region, but they also grow grains," Jones said. "The Afghan culture is very honoring and they use food to communicate in that way. If you visit them at their home, they're very hospitable."

One reason why the International Center likes to collaborate on projects like this exhibit is because of the different backgrounds students come from.

"All of our students speak a multitude of languages and there's that barrier but through art they can communicate their feelings, and it's a great coping skill," Jones said.

The resiliency of the students is something that sticks out to Jones.

"Many of the Congolese students had been staying in a refugee camp," she said. "Masumbuko was in a refugee camp for 17 years before coming to America, and the average is 10 to 20 years for a refugee before they're granted asylum."

Jones said she has one wish for the art show.

"As youth coordinator, I've gained knowledge of the cultures, but they have so much to give to our community, and I hope that's something that can be seen through their artwork," she said.

The show will be in the gallery until April 28. An opening reception will be held at 6 p.m. today. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Ralph Center is located at the corner of College Drive and South Griffith Avenue.

For more information on the show, email KWC Professor of Art and Design Heather Logsdon at hlogsdon@kwc.edu or Owensboro Sister Cities Vice President Katherine Zboril at katherinezboril@gmail.com.