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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Elizabeth Mullen |
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WNC IS THE SOLE EAST COAST VENUE Inspired by Grünwald’s Masterpiece, the Keiskamma Project WASHINGTON – The multi-panel Keiskamma Project, which commemorates the dead and pays tribute to the living of an AIDS-ravaged seaside town, opens to its only East Coast venue on January 16 at Washington National Cathedral. Over 130 townspeople crafted the devotional work through embroidery, beadwork, appliqué and photography. Its vibrant colors and exquisite composition exude energy despite depicting many of the village’s orphans. The artwork is named after its place of origin, the Kieskamma River valley in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. The main figures represented in the devotional work were chosen by the community. Closed, the central image of the altarpiece is a cross with the body of Christ replaced by the image of a recent widow dressed in traditional attire surrounded by the children of Hamburg. Sets of “cupboard doors” open to reveal lost family members and friends, a local choir, animals, angels and dramatic life-size photographs of three grandmothers with their grandchildren. These pictures represent an all-too-familiar social phenomenon in South Africa, which may have as many as two million AIDS orphans under the age of 15 by the end of the decade. Dr. Carol Hofmeyr, physician and artist, opened the area’s only AIDS hospice and treatment center several years ago with her physician husband. Her initial idea was to teach needlework to impoverished women as a mean assisting them economically as well as enabling them to grieve through this unique form of communal therapy. The plan for the project was born after Hofmeyr visited Colmar in Alsace Lorraine, home to the Isenheim altarpiece, one of the greatest works of the German Renaissance. The Keiskamma Project will be on display through March 9, and is free and open to the public. Ithas shown in Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Jpeg images are available upon request. Washington National Cathedral is a church for national purposes called to embody God’s love and to welcome people of all faiths and none. A unique blend of the spiritual and the civic, this Episcopal cathedral is a voice of generous-spirited Christianity and a catalyst for reconciliation and interfaith dialogue to promote respect and understanding. We invite all people to share in our commitment to create a more hopeful and just world. ### | |