Guam News - Community Events

Guam - The Guam Humanities Council has announced a special Guam tour of  "Between Fences", an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution's "Museum on Main Street" program.

The Council has been working with historian Christine Taitano DeLisle, PhD to develop a Guam focused companion exhibition and associated programs entitled I Kelat The Fence: Historical Perspectives on Guam’s Changing Landscape.

The Council has partnered with the Agana Shopping Center to present the second venue and programs on the tour. 

The exhibit opens to the public at 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 19, at the Agana Shopping Center with a special presentation of local artwork called "Artistic Responses to the Fence".

The program schedule for the second venue is as follows:

• SATURDAY, May 19, 5 PM - Exhibition Opening, Artistic Responses to the Fence
• SATURDAY, June 2, 2 PM - Childrenʼs story and activity hour
• SATURDAY, June 9, 5 PM - Film and Discussion event, Waiting For Superman
• SATURDAY, June 16, 8:30 AM – Nature walk to Hagtana taro gardens, show time 8 :15 AM at the Hagatna Mayorʼs Office parking lot
• THURSDAY, June 21, 6 PM - Intangible Fences – Cultural Perspectives on Disabilities panel discussion
• SATURDAY, June 23, 5 PM - Film and Discussion event, Noho Hewa
• SATURDAY, June 30, 5 PM – Closing event, Reading the Fence poetry night

READ the release from the Guam Humanities Council below:

Second Venue opening for Between Fences a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition

The Guam Humanities Council is pleased to announce the special Guam tour of Between Fences an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street program. Fences, a dominant feature in our lives and in our history, are more than functional objects, they are powerful symbols of security, industry, agriculture, and land ownership. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes tangible in how we build fences.

The Council also worked with historian Christine Taitano DeLisle, PhD to develop a Guam focused companion exhibition and associated programs entitled I Kelat The Fence: Historical Perspectives on Guamʼs Changing Landscape. The local exhibit explores the relations between Chamorros and fences from a historical, political, and cultural perspective. It moves from the iconic, the familiar and tangible, to the less familiar and intangible, to the unforeseen and unexpected effects of fences. Just as fences are intended to mark boundaries around what one owns, and who or what belongs where, fences and walls can be – and most certainly have been – scaled, transgressed, and circumscribed, as much as they have been respected and honored. Fences and walls, then, have the power to convey new social and cultural formations and possibilities.

The Council is partnering with the Agana Shopping Center to present the second venue and programs on the tour. The exhibit opens to the public at 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 19, at the Agana Shopping Center with a selection of local artwork and artist presentations entitled Artistic Responses to the Fence. The exhibit will run from May 19 through June 30, with a weekly schedule of related programs.

The program schedule for the second venue is as follows:

• SATURDAY, May 19, 5 PM - Exhibition Opening, Artistic Responses to the Fence
• SATURDAY, June 2, 2 PM - Childrenʼs story and activity hour
• SATURDAY, June 9, 5 PM - Film and Discussion event, Waiting For Superman
• SATURDAY, June 16, 8:30 AM – Nature walk to Hagtana taro gardens, show time 8 :15 AM at the Hagatna Mayorʼs Office parking lot
• THURSDAY, June 21, 6 PM - Intangible Fences – Cultural Perspectives on Disabilities panel discussion
• SATURDAY, June 23, 5 PM - Film and Discussion event, Noho Hewa
• SATURDAY, June 30, 5 PM – Closing event, Reading the Fence poetry night

The tour will continue to two other venues through these venue sponsors:

July 14 – August 16, Palm Village, Harmon Loop Road, Dededo, provided by EC Development
August 23 – September 22, Isla Center for the Arts, University of Guam Museum on Main Street (MOMS) is a collaboration between the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the different humanities councils in the 56 states and territories, which are eligible to host a MOMS exhibition tour. With support and programmatic assistance from the Guam Humanities Council, supplemental exhibitions are created with their own objects, stories and programs that celebrate Guamʼs unique cultural heritage and inspire community pride.

The I Kelat Exhibit and the Guam tour of Between Fences is made possible thought a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Between Fences is the third Smithsonian Institution exhibition hosted by the Guam Humanities Council, the first being the debut tour of New Harmonies:Celebrating American Roots Music, and the second, Key Ingredients – America By Food.

For more information about the local tour and exhibit, contact the Council at 472-4461/0 or email Monaeka at monaeka_ghc@teleguam.net. To learn more about and Museum on Main Street and Between Fences check out www.museumonmainstreet.org.

To learn more about the I Kelat exhibit and programs visit guamhumanitiescouncil.org