Visitors faced a wall of tragic statistics about human rights violations at the FedEx Global Education Center on Saturday morning.
But by that afternoon, the testament to injustice had become a work of art.
This collaborative art project was just one activity offered at the Center for Global Initiatives’ Visualizing Human Rights Anti-Conference, a forum aimed to address worldwide human rights issues in nontraditional ways.
“It’s a different sort of activism,” said Bevin Tighe, program assistant at the FedEx Center. “It’s about connecting people to human rights through the arts, instead of through an overly legalistic approach.”
Dick Gordon, host of American Public Media’s weekday radio program, The Story, greeted the nearly 200 in attendance with an interview with John Conroy.
Conroy, a journalist for the Chicago Reader, investigated allegations of torture practices in Chicago’s police system throughout the ‘90s.
Conroy stressed that those who commit torture rarely take responsibility for their actions, instead blaming their superiors for ordering them to perform the cruelties.
“Because no one claims responsibility, torture becomes this ugly monster with so many heads,” he said. “It infuriated me. I just couldn’t understand why people couldn’t understand this.”
Attendees were invited to contribute to a collective art project. Facts about human rights violations littered a free standing structure, but were quickly replaced by puzzle pieces of artistic interpretation.
Upon completion, the wall displayed a colorful and festive landscape. The image was designed by UNC art professor Beth Grabowski and her students.