‘Unleashing Voices’ presents point of view and personal development of 12 graduating world arts and cultures students

“Unleashing Voices” aptly describes the artistic endeavor 12 world arts and cultures students have taken in producing pieces as not only a culmination of their studies, but also of their personal life experiences.

As their final honors project, fourth-year world arts and cultures students have produced “Unleashing Voices” ““ an exhibition of art and dance performances that will take place Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. in Glorya Kaufman Hall.

“Each individual artist is so specialized in what they do, and we all have something really profound to say with our work. So we decided to name it “˜Unleashing Voices’ because it’s really just us unleashing our voices and what we have to say as artists and activists,” said fourth-year world arts and cultures student Christopher Albrecht.

The pieces cover a wide range of topics such as racial politics, power struggles, personal identity, interpersonal relationships and narratives of discovery.

“This is the culminating moment where we get to finally unleash all (our) ideas in this one really well-thought-out, really well-crafted piece that we present,” said one of the show’s artists, Marina Magalhães, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student.

The 11 choreographed dance performances and one art exhibition are the product of personal journeys the artists have taken with their original proposals of March of last year.

“I’ve learned so much about myself, and about art-making,” Albrecht said.

According to Albrecht, while their theses started off with a wisp of an idea, the process became more rigorous once students had to challenge and expand upon their ideas in order to create the final performance piece they are showcasing.

The students’ ideas evolved into final pieces with the help of mentors, professors and fellow classmates as they provided feedback to others within their artistic familial community, said Anthony Barbir, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student.

“I find it so satisfying to engage really deeply with a student in their own ideas,” said world arts and cultures professor Victoria Marks.

For the artists, the time spent with their pieces has been a crucial part of developing their points of view as artists and developing how they can represent those to an audience.

“It’s not just dancing about a subject, it’s how you feel about the subject and what you want to say about it,” Albrecht said.

Albrecht’s performance is a choreographed dance piece accompanied by a written script, which explores feelings of “white guilt” and offers a different perspective in racial politics, according to Albrecht.

His piece is just one of the many dance performances to be exhibited.

“Each of these seniors are exercising what it is that they probably hope to be doing outside of the university in the future,” Marks said.

For many of the artists, “Unleashing Voices” is the beginning of their artistic careers, and their artistic activism speaks to the public to educate and change perceptions.

“We want them to leave the theater thinking about all of the ideas we have presented,” Magalhães said.

The students’ art serves as a platform for activism, communication and advocacy of current issues. They are presenting their pieces and expressing their developed, artistic voices and opinions with the hope of changing people and the world.

“We are here, and we are relevant, and we have a lot to say. So we are unleashing our voices,” Albrecht said.