Artist and parishioner Alex Salceanu will share his body of artwork which collects the narratives of immigrants and their choices related to factors that push and pull people to leave their families, homes and cultures in hope of a brighter future. We hope you can join us for the Witness Art Exhibition! Project description Artist and parishioner Alexandru Salceanu will share his long-term collaborative video project entitled Witness. This project involves refugee/immigrant communities to create autobiographical video portraits. Through an intentional methodology, participants tell their own story in the language of their choice, are involved throughout the creative process, and have agency over composition, audio narrative, and edits. The goal of “Witness” is to create a publicly-accessible visual and oral archive of immigrant experiences that’s shared with the public through immersive exhibits, public projections, and its website. About the artist Alexandru Salceanu is a Romanian-American interdisciplinary artist. Born in Communist Romania and emigrating in 1992, his work concentrates on reconciling his cultural identity with his assimilation into American life. This life altering move has driven him to explore many layered historical and aesthetic references. How does one understand the dissonance of political and economic theory compared to the intimacy of lived experience? This is where his exploration and his creative focus lives: Alexandru layers historical events, aesthetic references, and personal accounts together by using a variety of media—photography, video, projection mapping, painting, and mixed media. As social practice, he works in and with communities to make collaborative artwork that facilitates autobiographical storytelling. Through his work, he utilizes art’s transformative power to humanize issues, challenge perspectives and encourage a more personal encounter. He investigate the quiet characteristics of resilience and dignity, power and joy present within pervasive cycles of struggle and the ways people overcome them. Websites www.alexandrusalceanu.com www.witnesscollaborative.org