In April 2020, faced with the COVID-19 crisis, the artist-run TransCultural Exchange quickly responded by producing Hello World, a virtual travelogue of artworks created by 250 artists. With the mere click of a mouse, stay-at-home voyagers can now collaborate with artists around the globe, listen to music from a mix of cultures, browse galleries of contemporary artists’ works, and take in movies and dance pieces from around the world. The project’s aim is to keep open avenues of cultural exchange during COVID-19’s period of travel restrictions and social distancing—to bring the solace of art and the possibility of interacting with people different from one’s self into the public sphere as an antidote to the rising nationalism, discrimination, and other extremist tendencies that often occur when people feel scared, stressed, and alone, such as during a pandemic. 

Join the Art, Art History, and Film Department for this colloquium lecture live on Zoom at https://bccte.zoom.us/j/93467596121.

Mary Sherman is an artist, adjunct professor at Boston College, and founder and director of the non-profit organization TransCultural Exchange. The organization’s more than three-decades of service in the field of cultural exchange, across various disciplines, has earned it considerable acclaim, support, and awards from institutions such as the Northeast Chapter of the International Association of Art Critics, UNESCO, the NEA, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Asian Cultural Council, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Boston Foundation, Swedish Embassy, swissnex Boston, the Netherland-American Foundation, among many others.