The featured Photo Of the Month was shot in Durban, South Africa by Orin Langelle and was featured on the first exhibit poster for the grand opening and exhibit in the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, Climate Change: Faces and Protest (photos from the front lines).
The gallery’s latest exhibit:
BUFFALO, NY – The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art presents a Poster Art exhibition: Looking Back to See the Future. The Opening Reception will be held during Allentown’s First Friday event on February 7th from 6 to 8 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The event showcases archival posters from past exhibits – 2014 through 2019 – at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Avenue at the Global Justice Ecology Project space.
The gallery’s exhibits have tackled major political and social themes: climate change, environmental destruction, political repression, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and struggles for justice around the globe.
Anne Petermann, co-director of the gallery and Executive Director for Global Justice Ecology Project says:
Humanity is facing what is perhaps its greatest challenge with the mounting ecological and social crises around the world. We are going to have to look at lessons from history– peoples’ history–if we are going to identify ways forward. The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery was founded as a way to help do that and this exhibit of posters showcasing our past work is a celebration of that mission.”
The next exhibit at the gallery, Chile: Peoples’ Uprising– photos and video from the front lines, opens April 3rd. It will feature photographs and videos shot during the ongoing people’s uprising in Chile by Buffalo’s Orin Langelle and Anne Petermann. Their work was shot in Chile during November and December of 2019.
The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art was founded to utilize art and photography to present a historical look at movements for change, struggle and everyday life. It is designed to counter the societal amnesia from which we collectively suffer—especially with regard to the history of social and ecological movements and issues, and to inspire new generations to participate in the making of a better world. The name of the gallery, ¡Buen Vivir!, is a concept stemming from Indigenous and other cultures of the Southern Americas. ¡Buen vivir! means life in harmony between humans, communities, and the Earth–where work is not a job to make others wealthier, but for a livelihood that is sustaining, fulfilling, and in tune with the common good.