EXCHANGE: STORIES FROM INTERNATIONAL HOUSE
Exchange: Stories from International House, International House of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, April 24–May 28, 2021.
(This exhibition, along with creating a collections management system for the objects at International House, was my Public Humanities semester practicum. Included on this page are some posters for the show, my introductory text, and some photos from the opening event on April 24, 2021.)
Exchange refers to the reciprocal action of giving and receiving something of equal value. Whether it be stories, experiences, or objects, the International House of Rhode Island has been a site of exchange since its founding in 1963. As people from all over the world have become a part of International House (IHRI), many of them have given IHRI gifts of art objects, ranging from paintings to sculptures to textiles to works on paper. Many objects in this eclectic collection call for extensive research in order to make their stories heard, but others were brimming with unspoken knowledge, waiting for the right opportunity to share what they know. Exchange: Stories from International House aims to do just that—to be a vessel in that sharing.
Exchange also describes the doubly reciprocal nature of IHRI and its community over nearly fifty years of service to the state of Rhode Island. On one level, it highlights the objects themselves—seventeen in all on display—as well as the hundreds of others around the building. But more significantly, it is a testament to the reciprocal and meaningful nature of the relationships IHRI has cultivated through its history, full of friendship, dialogue, learning, and the telling of stories.
As the curator of Exchange, I chose the works in this show because they were works that could speak to multiple audiences—either through the stories embedded within them, or because of unique aesthetic qualities that are less easy to put into words. Exchange comprises only a fraction of the stories that live within these walls, and I hope that future IHRI guests and friends will be inspired to continue this work of uncovering them.
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