UNE art exhibit ‘Another Shore: Migration in Our Time’ examines different experiences of modern migration

A new exhibit exploring various experiences of migration opens June 5 at the University of New England Art Gallery in Biddeford. An opening reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. the same night at the gallery, located in the Jack S. Ketchum Library.

The exhibit features the work of Sachiko Akiyama of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, whose carved wood sculptures evoke voyages and transformation; New York sculptor M. Annenberg, who looks at the human impacts of a warming planet in her work; and Maine painter Flynn Donovan, who thematizes metamorphosis. The exhibition also includes text by author Anne Marie Mukankusi, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, who is now based in Maine.

“‘Another Shore: Migration in Our Time’ offers a deep and wide-ranging view of the many meanings of migration, in a world where our hold on place is more precious and more tenuous than ever. It looks at issues surrounding climate migration, political disruption, and how even a simple act of relocation is an act of upheaval and faith,” said Hilary Irons, director of Galleries and Exhibitions at UNE.

“In a time of uncertainty, the impulse to find safe harbor is more pressing than ever,” Irons added.

Sachiko Akiyama, a wood sculptor and professor at the University of New Hampshire, is the recipient of a Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant, and recently presented a solo show at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland. 

Annenberg, an artist who works across various media, probes the human impact of a warming planet in her sculptures and photographic documentation. Her work deconstructing the under-reporting of major climate studies has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad. The exhibit includes three of Annenberg’s mixed-media sculptures.

Flynn Donovan, an artist and award-winning documentary filmmaker who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador, focuses on the intersection of humans' connection with the land and the passage of time in his work.

Anne Marie Mukankusi’s 2018 memoir, “Terrorized in Rwanda, Saved by Grace,” written under the pen name Anamalyia, details her experience as a teenager living through the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994. Excerpts from her book will be included in the exhibit. 

“Another Shore: Migration in Our Time” will be displayed at the UNE Art Gallery Biddeford, located in the Jack S. Ketchum Library at 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, through Oct. 25. The summer hours for the gallery are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. 

In addition, Annenberg will speak at the Maine Jewish Museum on Aug. 13. Please contact Hilary Irons at hirons@une.edu for details.