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Nuestros Ancestros

OAS AMA F Street Gallery
1889 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

On view by appointment: [email protected]

Erola Arcalís (Menorca / Spain)
Rosi Calderón (Mexico)
Tomiko Jones (United States)
Ania Moussawel (United States)
Lissette Schaeffler (Cuba)
Elizabeth Sanjuan (United States)

The OAS AMA | Art Museum of the Americas presents Nuestros Ancestros, an exhibition of six contemporary photographers of different geographical origins whose work nevertheless touches on parallel experiences of family relationships across generations, migratory histories, growth and aging, loss and grief, parenting and caregiving.

Erola Arcalís (Menorca / Spain) combines images of abstract landscapes and sculptural still life to create fictions around individual and collective memories. Her Shipwreck Studies draws influence from her great-grandfather, a shipbuilder and a humanist. Rosi Calderón (Mexico) creates visual narratives which capture the intricate complexity of time through compositions that reveal the constant movement between the present and the past. Also interweaving past and present, life and death, and using oceanic vessels to conjure subject matter, Tomiko Jones (United States) references her father inhabiting the diaphanous space between life and death, with floating silk landscapes and solid walnut framed images of the body and its urn, with suspended ribs of the skeleton boat and the heft of the hand-carved wooden oar. Ania Moussawel (United States) depicts different generations as they grow and age, and the life that continues after the death of a family member, through the lens of migratory patterns, shining a light on the roles of mothers as providers, caregivers, and the bearers of cultural traditions. Lissette Schaeffler (Cuba) focuses on exploring the connections between memory, time, and place, exploring family histories, assembled memories, and the passage of time. Elizabeth Sanjuan establishes an intimate series revolving around her grandmother, revealing strength and tenderness across a lifetime marked by changes along the personal and political landscapes from Cuba to the United States.

Throughout these artists's works, we see movement between the present and the past, across lifespans. There are successes and hardships according to circumstances. We see the walls of homes, dilapidated and dusty, filled with memory and significant personal objects, from wedding dresses to clocks. We see ships built and ships wrecked. Join us on a journey across national borders and through time.

Accessibility: The OAS AMA F Street Gallery is wheelchair accessible by the elevator at ground level just beyond the entrance. Restrooms are wheelchair accessible. For more information on accessibility, please contact 202 370 0147 or [email protected]