April 13, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - “Women in War Zones,” an exhibit of Western Kentucky University graduate Melanie Blanding’s photographs from a project in Africa, will open Thursday (April 19) at the Mass Media and Technology Hall Gallery.
Blanding, a May 2006 graduate from Roanoke, Va., spent last summer in the Democratic Republic of Congo to document the physical recoveries of women who suffered trauma and sexual assault at the hands of rebel
factions in the region. Her work was supported by a grant from the Alexia Foundation.
The exhibit, which includes a documentary film produced by her brother Scott, will open with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. “Women in War Zones” will remain on display through the summer.
About the exhibit: Thousands of women have been victims of violent gang rapes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since Hutu rebels, known as the Interahamwe, fled Rwanda after the genocide in 1994. The DRC was officially at war from 1998-2003, with seven neighboring countries invading the vast nation at one point. As many as 20 rebel military factions remain, preying upon poor villagers, especially women, for their survival. The rebels pillage, rape women, steal harvests and burn villages periodically to maintain their own supplies. This collection of photographs addresses the impact of that violence and the ways women are coping to rebuild their lives. Photos and a preview of the documentary film are available online at www.womeninwarzones.org
A story on Blanding’s project is available in the March/April issue of Echo, the online magazine for the WKU community, at www.wku.edu/echo/picture.htm.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Kurt Fattic at (270) 745-8927.
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