Nightwind

Hector Aristizabal, a human rights activist and artist, begins this performance and workshop with Nightwind, his short (30-minute) play based on the true story of his arrest and torture by the (U.S.-backed) military regime in Colombia.

After his release, and after witnessing the killings of many of his friends, Aristizabal went into exile in the United States, where he has become the creative director of ImaginAction, a group of diverse artists who believe that creative expression can lead to personal and social change. Immediately after the performance, Aristizabal invites the audience into a brief, dynamic meditation as a way to provide catharsis to the different emotions awakened by the theater piece. Then, using the techniques of the Theater of the Oppressed, Aristizabal invites participants to express their reactions to the images of torture by creating their own images in response. The content of the performance and the scenarios often lead to explorations of other cycles of violence—family violence, gang violence—and ideas on how to break them.

ImaginAction utilizes a theater of imagination to help rebuild communities and foster social change . Its projects combine Theater of the Oppressed techniques, traditional myths and storytelling, and psychotherapy, and its work has attracted attention around the world. Recent performances and workshops have taken place in Afghanistan, Germany, Croatia, and Palestine. Aristizabal is also the cofounder of CITYSCAPE, an art therapy program, and works as a consultant for several organizations in the Los Angeles area.

This event is part of Telling Stories to Change the World, a three-day series of campus events presented by Ohio State’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, with support from the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Center for African Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Department of History, and the Department of Theater. For more information or a complete schedule, please visit www.kirwaninstitute.org.