The Phillips Collection and the University of Maryland Present International Forum Weekend in Washington

Jacob Lawrence, The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 1, 1940-1941

For the 2016 Phillips Collection—University of Maryland International Forum, leaders across disciplines will discuss artistic and curatorial approaches to visual narratives of migration and immigration. How can art tell stories of people on the move? What is the civic role of art and art institutions in raising awareness to promote social change? Participants will discuss the ethical and aesthetical capacities of Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series to bridge the humanities, public policy, and social sciences and inspire societal change and well-being in the context of the 21st-century immigrant experience.
 
International Forum Weekend in Washington is an annual program hosted by the Phillips, and this year’s programming will facilitate discussion on migration and immigration. Using Lawrence’s series as a lens for dialogue, thought leaders across disciplines will come together to explore similar patterns and themes that exist in today’s political and cultural landscape. Specifically, discussion events will investigate the broader human quest for freedom, equality, and opportunity, which fuels ongoing patterns of migration around the world.
 
“I am encouraged that this year’s International Forum coincides with the reunion of Jacob Lawrence’s seminal masterwork The Migration Series,” said Director Dorothy Kosinski. “Especially in light of current global challenges, the themes brought up by Lawrence resonate strongly today. Art remains a powerful tool for prompting reflection and dialogue, and I look forward to the Phillips playing a part in hosting that important discussion.”

The event includes two staged readings of short plays written in response to The Migration Series, panel discussions with thought leaders, and a creative response from Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Detailed schedule of events is listed below.
  
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The weekend of events will take place at the Phillips on October 22–23, 2016. Members of the Phillips Collectors Forum are invited to register to attend. Events open for public attendance are listed below and are included with museum admission unless otherwise noted. All details are subject to change.
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
2 pm: Introduction
Dorothy Kosinski, Director, The Phillips Collection
Mary Ann Rankin, Senior Vice President and Provost, University of Maryland
 
2:15 pm: Staged Readings
Following introductory remarks by Curator Elsa Smithgall, there will be dramatic readings of two 10-minute plays inspired by The Migration Serieswritten by local playwrights and commissioned by the Phillips. Featured playwrights for the afternoon include Jacqueline E. Lawton and Tearrance Chisholm. Following the readings, there will be a brief discussion between Lawton (Artistic Director and Playwright), Derek Goldman (Director), and curator Elsa Smithgall. 
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3pm: Panel Discussion
Visual Narratives of Migration/Immigration: Participants will use their artistic and curatorial approaches to consider visual narratives of migration and immigration, including broader discussion of what it means to be human, as well as the civic role of art and art institutions in raising awareness to promote social change.
Moderator: Vesela Sretenovic, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Phillips Collection
Participating Panelists:
Allan deSouza, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Sara Raza, Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, Middle East and North Africa
Stefan Falke, New York-based German artist whose photographs featuring artists on both sides of the Mexico-America border are currently on view at the DC Goethe Institut
Pedro Lasch, Professor of Art, Theory, Visual Studies, Duke University
Daniel Schwarz, LA-based artist whose digital media works examining the contested US-Mexico border is currently on view at the DC Goethe Institut
 
4:30 pm: Panel Discussion
Connecting Art, Societal Wellness, and Cultural Diplomacy: Participants will discuss the ethical and aesthetical capacities of Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series to bridge the humanities, public policy, and social sciences and inspire societal change and well-being in the context of the 21st-century immigrant experience.
Moderator: Steve Clemons, Washington Editor-at-Large for The Atlantic and Editor of Atlantic Live
Participating Panelists:
Rachel Goldberg, Head of K-12 Initiatives, The Phillips Collection
Julie Greene, Professor of History, University of Maryland Center for Global Migration Studies
Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Shibley Telhani, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland, and Senior Fellow of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution
Hoyt Yee, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State
 
5 pm: Creative Response by Azar Nafisi
Azar Nafisi is the critically acclaimed author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and a fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Her book is a New York Times bestseller and has been published in 32 languages.
 
Admission is free for the Saturday afternoon of events listed above, but reservations are recommended: www.phillipscollection.org/events
 
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23
4 pm: Sunday Concert featuring Rahim AlHaj
Rahim AlHaj makes his Phillips Music debut in a concert playing the oud, one of the oldest of all string instruments. Born in Baghdad, AlHaj was eventually forced to leave Iraq because of his activism against Saddam Hussein’s regime.
 
ABOUT THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION
The Phillips Collection, America’s first museum of Modern art, is one of the world’s most distinguished collections of Impressionist and Modern American and European art. Stressing the continuity between art of the past and present, it offers a strikingly original and experimental approach to Modern art by combining works of different nationalities and periods in displays that change frequently. The setting is similarly unconventional, featuring small rooms, a domestic scale, and a personal atmosphere. Artists represented in the collection include Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Honoré Daumier, Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Mark Rothko, Milton Avery, Jacob Lawrence, and Richard Diebenkorn, among others. The permanent collection has grown to include more than 1,000 photographs, many by American photographers Berenice Abbott, Esther Bubley, and Bruce Davidson, and works by contemporary artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Wolfgang Laib, Whitfield Lovell, and Leo Villareal. The Phillips Collection regularly organizes acclaimed special exhibitions, many of which travel internationally. The Phillips also produces award-winning education programs for K–12 teachers and students, as well as for adults. The University of Maryland Center for Art and Knowledge at The Phillips Collection is the museum’s nexus for academic work, scholarly exchange, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Since 1941, the museum has hosted Sunday Concerts in its wood-paneled Music Room. The Phillips Collection is a private, non-government museum, supported primarily by donations.
 
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
The University of Maryland is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 37,000 students, 9,000 faculty and staff, and 250 academic programs. Its faculty includes three Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 47 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. The institution has a $1.8 billion operating budget and secures $550 million annually in external research funding. For more information about the University of Maryland, visit www.umd.edu.

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