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OTHERNESS EXPEDITION
"The victims of violence, those who did not have a second chance, demand more hours of forgiveness and less minutes of silence."
The "Otherness Expedition" proposes an itinerant artistic exhibition developed from a concept known as “immersive art” and subjective experience. This expedition revolves around the peaceful resolution of conflicts, the power of forgiveness, the promotion of nonviolence through a photographic exhibition, new technologies and a practical seminar.
The proposal intends to visit, in the beginning, the communities affected by acts of extreme violence (shootings) in the recent history of the United States. The route of the expedition in its pilot phase includes a city in each of the following states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado, California, Arizona and Texas.
The statistics show that in the last four years there were 239 shootings in the United States with 536 wounded, of whom 148 died . The sceneries have been a country music concert, a church and several public schools. Before, it was a bar (2016), another church (2015), a cinema (2012), a primary school (2012), a temple (2012), and a university (2007 and 2014). The US has suffered 200 shootings in schools during the past five years. About 440 people were shot in a school in the United States since 2014. This means that on average there are five incidents with weapons in a US school per month with a total of 16 incidents that can be classified as "mass shootings" for having finished with at least four injured.
The record of incidents by firearms is very high and constant, but every so often, events occur that stand out from the others due to the high number of casualties; these sad events have multiplied in the last decade, increasing the number of deaths, injuries and frequency. Where statistics show 684 victims we see thousands of families with immense potential to learn, develop and multiply experiences that allow us to face the "Circular Causality of Violence".
It is precisely in this context that the budgets of a personal, relational and collective work are proposed in the public schools of the cities that have been struck by these events. Based on forgiveness and its power to resolve conflicts peacefully, heal relations struck by extreme violence and prevent tragedies that should not be repeated. What is current education doing in the formation of citizens for coexistence? The conflict situation is inherent to the dynamics of our society but the violence it faces does not have to be part of the human condition
There are three possible responses to face any type of conflict: (A) passivity, (B) violent opposition, (C) nonviolence. The evolution of humanity was conditioning us only for the first alternatives: either flee or fight. As a society we require a model of education, based on pedagogical strategies, and supported by artistic expressions, developed in the construction of a culture where language and communication prevails above violence, by which future generations are freed from the grudge inherited by our present and past conflicts.
It is very important for us to have the right partners to carry out this project. We invite you to join our expedition and contribute to our purpose, in order to stop the circle of violence, and in this way build towards a better future for our next generations.
