Walnut Gallery unveils a new collection of photos by artist Karen Graffeo entitled Let Us Now Praise the Roma on March 18. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 pm at Walnut Gallery in downtown Gadsden. Admission is free and open to the public.
Since 1999, photographer Karen Graffeo has been documenting the lives and culture of Roma populations, sometimes called “Gypsies”. Some her most recent work is featured in the exhibit Let Us Now Praise the Roma, opening at Walnut Gallery on March 18. According to Graffeo, the project follows the philosophy “that it is the poorest of the poor who most need a voice.” These stunning photos document the lives of the Roma cultures found throughout Italy and Romania, in which the Roma people live in impoverished, ramshackle communities featuring homes that are hand-built from scavenged materials. “The title of my photographic essay is directly inspired by the 1941 book by Walker Evans and James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, in which they documented in images and essays the lives of white sharecropper families in the rural south during the Great Depression,” Graffeo explains. “I did not go into Roma culture as either a tourist or a journalist; I went as an artist, a participant and an observer.” Born in Mississippi, Graffeo serves as an art professor at the University of Montevallo. Her work has been featured internationally in Paris, New York, and most recently at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. “I am deeply aware of the power of art that bears witness to populations isolated by poverty,” Graffeo says in her artist statement, “and I know there is often cultural, human wealth and valor within those populations. Such art brings choices and dignifies the experience of those who are documented, inspiring awareness in those who contemplate the images and stories.” “This work is part of a larger conversation that we all must have regarding our part in helping those in need,” said Mario Gallardo, Walnut Gallery’s executive director. “There are many here in our own community that can identify with the plight of the Roma people.” Gallardo added that the history of the gallery’s building made an impression on Graffeo. “She said she’s honored to be showing this work in such a sacred space. I think it adds an extra layer of meaning and context to the photographs.” Let Us Now Praise the Roma will be on display until April 15.