0218_NC_PKG_artexhibit from KentWired.com on Vimeo.

“Art isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about people’s lives. You get a real sense of what life looks like if you pay attention to how artists see society.”

Dr. Joseph Underwood is the curator of the exhibit “The View from Here: Contemporary Perspectives from Senegal” that’s currently being shown at Kent State’s Center for the Visual Arts.

The exhibit allows attendees to explore Senegal through the eyes of artists from around the world.

“I think it’s important for institutions to reflect the community that they live in, so here a whole different kind of population can see themselves manifested on these walls,” says Dr. Underwood.

The exhibition premiered in Senegal at the Dakar Biennale, a bi-yearly art festival showcasing contemporary African Art.

After its debut in Senegal, “The View from Here” made a stop in Wisconsin before coming to Kent State and will next be shown in New York.

“I organized it in conjunction with eleven artists, some are from Senegal, some are from the US or France.

And so the idea, the kind of goal behind the exhibition, is to ask the question, ‘What is the view from here? What does it look like, life in Senegal?”

Dr. Underwood thinks it’s important that our community has the opportunity to be feel represented through this art, saying, “In many ways Northeast Ohio is also diverse, there’s so many different populations living here. It’s a real confluence of cultures, and there’s plenty of international people. We feel really privileged that it [the exhibit] was here at Kent State.”

“The View from Here” is here at Kent State through the rest of this week on the first floor of the CVA on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10-5, Thursday from 10-7, and Friday from 10-2.