Coming to Hillman Library This Fall!

hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Department of Physics & Astronomy and University Library System

Exhibit Events:

Coming Soon!

The restriction of academic freedom is an early indicator that a democracy is in danger. As autocrats strive to grab power, they quickly begin threatening, censoring, harassing, firing, imprisoning, torturing and even executing academics whose research or opinions do not serve them. As a result, academics are often forced into exile to survive and continue their work.

Since 2017, PAUSE, the French hosting program for scientists and artists in exile, has been working with universities to help academics who have been forced to leave their homes, find refuge in France. This initiative revives a tradition that has been a lifeline for scholars at risk throughout history and played a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge.

This collection of fifty-five portraits features scholars and artists in exile from various corners of the world almost supported by PAUSE alongside their hosts. It is the result of an in-depth dialogue between Pascale Laborier, an academic, and Pierre-Jérôme Adjedj, a photographer, about how to best represent the experience of academic exile.

The people featured in this collection were invited to bring four categories of symbolic items to their photo session: images representing their home country, images representing their host country, personal possessions, and objects connected to their field of research. Using the photographic tool of transparency, faces merge with symbolic fragments guiding us into their life stories. In certain instances, to protect anonymity, physical features disappear altogether.

www.standingforfreedom.eu

About this Project

Pascale Laborier and Pierre-Jérôme Adjedj would like to thank all those who contributed to the exhibition:

The Cité du Design de Saint-Étienne and its former director Thierry Mandon
The 55 people photographed as part of the research project Focus on scholars forced into exile yesterday and today (RESTRICA)
Laura Lohéac and Amaryllis Quezada from the French Hosting Program for Scientists and Artists in Exile (PAUSE)
Marie Poinsot and the team of the magazine Hommes et Migrations for the catalogue, as well as Abigail
Gérard, Marie-Christine Cerisier-Struk and Dietlind Lerner

Curator of the exhibition: Pascale Laborier, Paris-Nanterre University
Photographs: Pierre-Jérôme Adjedj, Berlin
Coordination of the exhibition: Sur Mesure Berlin
Graphic design: Laure Oustrie, Cité du design

Hillman Library is located at 3960 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Metered on-street parking is available on various streets surrounding the library. Paid parking is also available at Soldiers & Sailors Parking Garage (.2 miles from the library). Hillman is also accessible by public transportation. See the Pittsburgh Regional Transit website for planning your trip. 

Please email uls-events@pitt.edu with any questions or accessibility accommodation requests.