Provenance Cultural Center Fights for Social Justice and Cultural Understanding through Art and Dialogue

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines provenance as “1: origin, source; 2: the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature.” The seeks to explore the provenance of the ways in which culture manifests itself and how it is understood or misunderstood throughout the world.

“Through the exploration of cultural origins, beliefs, attitudes, and social perspectives, we can also see how much all humans share, in the past and for the future,” says Nadesha Mijoba, owner and director of Provenance  Center.

Founded as an extension and project of Nadesha’s consulting firm, Mijoba Communications, the community-based cultural center first opened at 165 State Street in New London in October, 2009. Since then, the Center has represented art from all around the world, with a focus on artists whose work addresses issues of social justice, cultural diversity, political oppression, spirituality, and environmental consciousness.

The current display is “Caras: Humanidad,” by Pablo Friedmann, a portrait artist who depicts the pain of living in the faces of various individuals from around the world.  Friedmann rarely plans his compositions in advance, nor does he set out to capture a specific expression. Only when he feels  inspired by the image does he begin his research, going through “quite a lot of photos” to find the perfect expression to convey the pain of his subject.

“The subject develops over time during the life of the painting,” Friedmann says. His portraits have depicted the pain caused by tragic manmade and natural disasters including the aftermath of Hiroshima, the earthquake in Haiti, and the war in Iraq.

His anger at the war in Iraq and the pain it caused was the motivation behind Friedmann's piece “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” This piece depicts parts of the faces of President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as the “bad and the ugly,” leaving the spectator as the “good.”

Not all of his work is of traumatic pain. Friedmann also seeks to show the strain of hard work and exhausting activities--the expression of a ballet dancer holding a position, for instance.

Provenance Center is open to all forms of artistic expression including painting, sculpture, photography, film, music, and the performance arts. It also serves as a space for events, such as Argentine tango classes on Thursdays, and hosts community meetings and discussion groups that deal with issues of social and cultural awareness, peace and justice.

The Provenance Center  encourages everyone to visit. “We are constantly seeking new collaborations. We welcome the opportunity for dialogue,” says Mijoba. “Provenance Center seeks to form relationships with any local group representing the various ethnicities and cultures of our region … [and] organizations whose mission and values are congruent with those of Provenance Center.”

Find out more at www.provenancecenter.com.