From Displacement to Empowerment
Upside~Down Al revés
by
GM Urso
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
Ireland
11 June - 7 September 2024
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Ireland
From Displacement to Empowerment is an exhibition program by the Regional Cultural Centre, Conflict Textiles, and Letterkenny Amnesty International that explores the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict, violence, and human rights violations. The program uses textiles and sculptures to invite reflection.
From Displacement to Empowerment
11 June 2024 until 7 September 2024.
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland
Upside~Down / Al revés
In From Displacement to Empowerment, Giuseppe Mario Urso presents Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and The Statue of Liberty as mirror images. Each wears the clothes and colours of the other and their bases connect via a fragile transparent division.
These two iconic symbols are laden with meaning. For the mothers of the disappeared in Mexico, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe envelops the unbearable anguish of their loss and extends comfort. The Statue of Liberty has become the symbol of emigration, simultaneously conveying pain for the lost home country and hope for a better life in the new one.
In removing these icons from their traditional pedestals, Urso allows “these two great ladies who stand far apart, yet who share similar values and hopes” to converse with the viewer in a new way. He presents them as “neighbours not strangers, standing in perfect composure, mirroring one another”. He reflects: [This] "upside-down installation… defying gravity, encourages us to come close, reflect, and observe reality with fresh eyes”.
For Giuseppe, their very proximity raises an intimate question: "Are we different or are we the same?"
(Roberta Bacic Conflict Textiles)
Photo by Clem McCartney
From Displacement to Empowerment
11 June 2024 until 7 September 2024
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland
Special Specimen at the Conway Hall this October
Come to visit the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square and see Special Specimen, an artwork created specifically for the Bloomsbury Festival.
Special Specimen is an intimate video installation where visitors are invited to pause and look closely at a unique specimen of humankind through the lens of a microscope while mindfully observing some of the flaws and strengths that make us human.
The specimen being viewed under the microscope is yourself. In this self-reflective process the separation between the observer and the observed collapses, allowing you to see yourself in an unfamiliar but more intimate way, and ultimately singles you out as a live specimen representative of all humankind.
Special Specimen
by Giuseppe Mario Urso
Bloomsbury Festival 2024
Fri 18 - Sat 19 - Sun 20 October 2024
Conway Hall - Foyer
Fri 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Sat 11:00am - 7:00pm
Sun 11:00am - 5:00pm
Free - Just turn up
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London
Conway Hall, London
Conway Hall is operated by Conway Hall Ethical Society.
The Hall is renowned as a hub for free speech and independent thought, for suffragettes, political radicals, scientists, philosophers, artists, performers; campaign, charities and other non-profit organisations.
The Library holds the Ethical Society’s collection, which is the largest and most comprehensive Humanist and ethics related research resource of its kind in the United Kingdom.
Special Specimen
by Giuseppe Mario Urso
Bloomsbury Festival 2024
Fri 18 - Sat 19 - Sun 20 October 2024
Conway Hall - Foyer
Fri 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Sat 11:00am - 7:00pm
Sun 11:00am - 5:00pm
Free - Just turn up
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London
review
Salterton Arts Review
A video installation inside St Pancras New Church, A Room of One’s Own reminds us to take stock of our lockdown experience for good and ill... read more on Salterton Arts Review
interview
Bloomsbury Radio
Barra Fitzgibbon interviews Giuseppe Mario Urso about his installation A Room of One’s Own for the Bloomsbury Festival 2023.
Work
Interaction
Interaction
I explore the intangible contradictions that linger underneath our long-established beliefs, questioning the way we see, hear, and fear ...
Interaction
Interaction
Interaction
An essential element of my practice is the collaboration with artists, collectives, and organizations. Presently, I am involved with: Conflict Textiles, Alter Us, and Neo Norte.
About
Interaction
About
My work has been exhibited in Central Saint Martins, Exposed Arts Projects, St John on Bethnal Green, and lately Myymälä2 in Helsinki, and Casa Seminario in Mexico City.