Canisius Gallery: An Experiential Learning Center for Fernando Brito’s Sinaloa
January 17, New York, New York — The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs welcomes Fordham University’s community of students and faculty, along with the Bronx’s community of neighbors, artists, and academics alike, to visit the IIHA’s newly renovated exhibition center of the Canisius Gallery.
Brendan Cahill, the Executive Director of Fordham’s IIHA, notes “The Canisius Gallery allows our Institute to challenge our community to celebrate the dignity and complexity of all human life, sharing culture and art as a means of highlighting the social justice issues that confront all of us. As a gallery not only part of Fordham but also as part of the Bronx, we also reach out to and hope to collaborate with all of the artistic community of this great borough.”
The current exhibition of Defiant Spirits: Fernando Brito’s Sinaloa, which celebrates cultural affluence amidst Sinaloa’s criminalized state, highlights the work of Fernando Brito, self-defined as “a citizen with a grudge.” The core of his work is predominantly concerned with social protest. Born and raised in Sinaloa, his signature photographs expose the raw violence of living in a state governed by the Cartel de Sinaloa’s savage crimes and the Mexican government. However, in stark contrast to the country’s violence, Defiant Spirits: Fernando Brito’s Sinaloa showcases Sinaloa’s rich identities, histories, and traditions, capturing the underlying spiritual heritage and resilience amidst the nation’s discredited political institutions.
Visitors and viewers of Defiant Spirits: Fernando Brito’s Sinaloa follow a photographic journey of 20 memorializing images. This imagery begins with the ceremonial centers for the Yorema of Sinaloa, captured in Judío from Baca (Choix) dancing for alms at traffic lights during Yoreme Holy Week and commences with the criminalized streets of Culciaćan, through Crime Scene. With each work being more intricate and thought-provoking than the next, Fernando’s photos delicately balance impressions of social unrest and resilience amongst the residents of Sinaloa.
By engaging with art through a humanitarian lens, Dr. Barbara Mundy, Professor of Art History and Latin American and Latino Studies, highlights the use of Canisius Gallery as an experiential learning center, noting, “The students in my Latin American art class (who visited the show on our second day of class) were impressed to see these works at a Fordham gallery. One of the focuses of the class is the art of popular religious devotion, and Brito’s work showed them the ways that the Yoreme, an indigenous group of Sinaloa, have transformed Catholic ritual into practices that are deeply meaningful to them.”
Elizabeth Crennan, a senior in Dr. Mundy’s Latin American Art Class, reflects on her experience visiting the Canisius Gallery highlighting, “The Brito exhibition was an invaluable opportunity to connect our curriculum of Latin American Art with contemporary Mexican culture, outside the constraints of a classroom yet within the bounds of campus. The exhibition captured the rich history and cultural practices of people with great raw emotion. It commanded our attention and called us to more deeply consider the humanity of the creator and subjects of the pieces.”
Defiant Spirits: Fernando Brito’s Sinaloa is held at the Canisius Gallery from November 29, 2018, to February 28, 2019, and is open by appointment, Monday through Friday in Canisius Hall at 2546 Belmont Avenue, Fordham University Rose Hill.
About the Canisius Gallery
The Canisius Hall Gallery serves as a venue for exhibitions of artistic work relating to humanitarian and social justice issues. Using art as a means to illuminate, educate and provoke, the Gallery seeks to bring the Fordham community closer to the injustices experienced by our fellow global citizens.
Our vision is to create a stimulating environment encouraging of cultural and artistic inquiry through a social justice lens for our students, neighbors, artists, and the humanitarian sector — not only at the Institute, but at Fordham University as a whole. Past exhibitions have included Horrors of War: From Goya to Nachtwey and No Safe Harbor by Getty Images photographer Bob Nickelsberg.
About the IIHA
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) prepares current and future aid workers with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively in times of humanitarian crisis and disaster. Our courses are borne of an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines academic theory with the practical experience of seasoned humanitarian professionals. The IIHA also publishes on a wide range of humanitarian topics and regularly hosts a number of events in the New York area, including the annual Humanitarian Blockchain Summit and Design for Humanity Summit.
For more information or media inquiries please contact:
Camille Giacovas
Communications & Research Officer
cgiacovas@fordham.edu
