WWU Libraries to host panel discussion on 'Bloodroot: Transcending Paradigms of Domination and Greed' Friday, April 23

Western Washington University Libraries will host a panel discussion on a collaborative work of sculpture and poetry titled “Bloodroot: Transcending Paradigms of Domination and Greed” from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23 in the Western Libraries Skybridge.

The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided.

Bloodroot was created by WWU students Justin Alexander and George Daneri of the English Department. The project evolved in the Winter 2010 section of English 575: Studies in Women’s Literature, taught by Rosanne Kanhai, WWU English professor and Women Studies director.

Kanhai, Alexander and Daneri will lead the panel discussion.

The sculpture depicts class examination of the incarceration of growing numbers of women across the globe in spaces such as industrialized prisons, sweat shops, refugee camps, war zones, and the Gaza Strip. Such women strive for liberation by drawing on inner resources, as expressed in the spiritual strength of the left arm of the figure transforming into a wing, and the process of creativity as expressed in the colored yarn wrapped around the right arm.

All the material used to create Bloodroot came from beaches, backyards and rubbish heaps of the Bellingham area, making the point that creativity is not of commercial value, but to be found in the margins.

The panel discussion is co-sponsored by WWU’s Women’s Studies program and Western Libraries’ Diversity Task Force.

For more information, contact Jeanne Armstrong, adjunct professor of WWU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences at (360) 650-7667 or Jeanne.Armstrong@wwu.edu.