Once Upon a Place with Aman Mojadidi

Artist's Talk with Q and A

Artist Aman Mojadidi presents his exhibit Once Upon a Place, an interactive installation that uses decommissioned phone booths to relate immigrants’ stories to the public.

In a presentation titled "Borderless: Art and Migration in Troubled Times," Artist Aman Mojadidi presents his exhibit Once Upon a Place, an interactive installation that uses decommissioned phone booths to relate immigrants’ stories to the public.

Contemporary Art Toledo and the Toledo Lucas County Public Library bring Aman Mojadidi's art installation, Once Upon a Place to Main Library. Once Upon a Place is an interactive art installation employing a phone booth to share immigrant stories.  The oral histories were told by people from countries across the globe including China, Mexico, Burkina Faso, Tibet, and dozens more.  The artist recorded the stories to create a safe environment for immigrants to share their personal experiences. Working largely through site-specific projects and with degrees in Cultural Anthropology, Afghan-American artist Aman Mojadidi's work utilizes an experimental ethnographic approach, combining qualitative research, traditional storytelling, postmodern narrative strategies, and mixed-media installations to approach themes such as belonging, identity politics, conflict, artifactual history, and migration; intentionally blurring and merging the lines between fact and fiction, documentation and imagination.

This event is organized by the Roger Ray Institute for the Humanities in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo. 

Exhibit Partners and Sponsors: The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo; Bowling Green State University School of Art; Mansour Wealth Management; Renaissance Toledo Downtown Hotel; Toledo Lucas County Public Library; University of Toledo’s College of Arts and Letters together with the Roger Ray Institute for the Humanities, the School of the Visual and Performing Arts, and the Department of Art; Welcome Toledo Lucas County; Aly Sterling & Friends; and Hussien & Randa Shousher

 Location of Exhibit Booths:  Individual booths will be installed in 3 separate areas: Promenade Park, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, University of Toledo.