Guilford College Art Gallery

Artist's Talk & Documentary Screening:

Bien Cuidao:
The Informal Economics of Survival in Panama

Wednesday, October 19, 7:00 PM

Through a Wide Angle Lens: Visions of Panama and the Canal
Robert C. Ketner Vitrines, Hege Library 
August 29 - October 30, 2016

María Luisa Amado and Joe Jowers’ photographic exhibit, “Through a Wide Angle Lens: Visions of Panama and the Canal,” portrays the small boats that transport the common people of Panama, juxtaposed against the large cargo ships that cross the Panama Canal.

Panama recently opened a new set of canal locks at a cost of $5.2 billion, which will allow some of the biggest vessels ever built to maneuver through the country.  María and Joe’s photographic collection tells a visual story of disparity that contrasts the imposing watercrafts with the modest modes of transportation accessible to local residents.

On display in the Robert C. Ketner Vitrines in the foyer of Hege Library through October 30, 2016, the photographs are being displayed in conjunction with an exhibition of Guggenheim Fellow Judith Beltzer’s paintings of the Panama Canal, which are featured in the main gallery and an adjacent vitrine.

 
Untitled Photo, María Amado, 2015

María Luisa Amado is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Guilford College.  Her research and teaching interests revolve around racial and class inequality in Latin America and Latino/a immigrants in the U.S.  Born and raised in Panama, María’s work incorporates her insights as a Latin American woman of color who constantly moves between two locations, set apart by miles of memories, experiences, and longings.

A filmmaker, director and director of photography for over 25 years, Joe Jowers has worked on documentaries in Haiti, Egypt, Jamaica, Kuwait, Ghana, and Panama.  He is an Adjunct Faculty at A&T State University, where he teaches media analysis. As filmmaker and photographer, Joe’s goal is to highlight the connections between political and personal spheres, macro social processes and human stories.  

Amado and Jowers will speak and screen the documentary they co-produced, “‘Bien Cuidao:’ The Informal Economics of Survival in Panama,” on Wednesday, October 19, at 7 p.m. in the Art Gallery.

The exhibit is open during Hege Library hours, which are reduced during the College’s Fall Break, October 8-16.