“Facts, pedagogy, mythologies, policies can be readily found and shared over the internet, but the unexpected occurs when people come face to face. I went to Riga with much curiosity. I left Riga wanting to return and further engage with people there.”Read More

"In May of 2016 I was lucky to find myself in Paramaribo, Suriname, following an invitation by the U.S. State Department, to come - see - meet – learn and explore. The sheer vastness of the Suriname Rain Forest with its thousands of tree and plant species including important medicinal herbs and plants, 674 species...Read More

“I found it fascinating to see up close how positive the role of the American Embassy can be and found that it was all I could have hoped for.”Read More

“First of all it was an honor to be asked by the U.S. Ambassador to have one of my sculptures. I am truly appreciative of that. Second it has opened my eyes and broadened my horizons for making positive contributions and interaction with other artists around the planet. The more we exchange ideas, the closer...Read More

“The first step in understanding a diverse culture is taken through language. When we meet people from other cultures their new language is like music. We may not understand the meaning but we can hear the rhythm of speech. Rather than focus on our lack of understanding we should revel in the rhythmic poetry of...Read More

Today I went to meet the curators of the zoological collection at Anton de Kom University. Great visit with yet another set of absolutely delightful, charming and kind people. And generous with their time to allow me to take photos of bugs and spiders and butterflies, when I know they have much else that needs...Read More

“Seeding friendships and future opportunities to share my work and collaborate on exhibitions and talks in the future. The overall experience affirmed my purpose as an artist.”Read More

“As an artist who has contributed to the Art in Embassies program for over 40 years, I felt honored to be asked to participate in the artist exchange and I felt a responsibility to represent my country as an artist citizen. Art is universal with a language that can be understood and appreciated no matter...Read More

"Presenting my work in another culture put to the test the assumptions and expectations of my efforts. Overall, the experience allowed me to gain insights into various aspects of my work. Also, I think I was able to hone in on what actually is the initial appeal of using smoke. Professionally speaking, the experience has...Read More

“There are things you can do better in a mobile environment than you can with really big SLR’s” Stephen Alvarez In 2009 photographer Stephen Alvarez travelled to Madagascar for National Geographic to shoot a series for the magazine of the stone forest Tsingy de Bemaraha. The iconic works that were shot at that time, and...Read More

In many ways, it seems vital that art helps to house global diplomacy, because the practice of making and transferring cultural communication through design and craft has played a very large historic role in creating global networks and cultural exchange. Art is generous and can help us to communicate complex notions.Read More

This kind of cultural diplomacy is important,…some of the best education is traveling to a new place and meeting new people. Working with artists across Botswana, I learned so much about the local people and culture….I can’t speak for the people, but they seemed excited to meet with us and talk about the issues we...Read More

Participating in an Art in Embassies exchange simultaneously heightened my awareness of myself as an American artist and also as a global artist. Seeing myself through the eyes of my Batswana contemporaries as a representative of America awoke a desire to more directly engage American art forms including Amish quilting and New York School painting...Read More

“I had never been to Africa before and part of me believed that I might never travel to Africa. Seeing different cities in Botswana and traveling outside of the capital city gave me a rich and varied view of the culture and how people live in different parts of the country. Experiencing and absorbing another...Read More

“I do not know what impact this exchange may have on my art career, but I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to experience this rich Pacific culture. I am certain images and influences from this exchange will be appearing in my work”    Read More

Our work is the creation of an interpretation of the daily environment. On Wednesday, May 13, American artist and 2013 TED Fellow Ryan Holladay presented a lecture at the Pump House Gallery , a public contemporary exhibition space housed in a distinctive four story Victorian tower in the center of Battersea Park in London. Pump...Read More

“I’m a Rwandan-American artist and I spent my formative years living between Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. Having a transnational identity has completely shaped my life as an artist… the flip side of that is that I’ve felt alienated because of my identity. Not everyone has the patience or interest in hearing a complicated...Read More

“What my work is about, is that it hides gender, race and class, so you’re forced to be confronted with something that is unfamiliar. It can’t be categorized.” Nick Cave – On May 28, 2015, American artist Nick Cave presented the second Contemporary Conversations lecture, an exciting new artist exchange program for Art in Embassies(AIE)...Read More

Art brings order to chaos. It gives it voice; it gives it a language.” – Eric Fischl In September 2015, artist Eric Fischl travelled to Ottawa to participate in the third installment of Contemporary Conversations, a series of public events organized by Art in Embassies (AIE), the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa, and...Read More

"Art exists within us. It’s about breaking down barriers. Every stitch from every person is like a thumbprint, and when the threads come together in my art, it’s a metaphor of how we’re all connected and related. Only it’s not just a metaphor, it’s the reality."Read More