Renowned South American photojournalist visits Ļć½¶Ö±²„March 8
Contact: Karyn Brown
STARKVILLE, Miss.āAn Argentinian photographer recognized internationally for combining his art with humanitarian efforts will visit Mississippi State early next month.
SebastiĆ”n Suki BelĆ”ustegui comes to the university March 8 for a 6-8 p.m. address in Section U of the Colvard Student Unionās second-floor Bill R. Foster Ballroom.
Free to all, the presentation will spotlight some of his efforts to document cultural diversity, specifically among minority communities and tribes.
Also free to all is āAfrica in the Americas: The Heritage of African Communities in the Americas,ā an exhibit of BelĆ”usteguiās work on display through March 24 at the art departmentās Visual Arts Center Gallery at 808 University Drive.
Self-taught in documentary photography, BelĆ”ustegui has extensively chronicled since 1991 life among Latin Americaās minority tribes. These and his other images have been featured over the years in National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and other major publications.
His massiveāmore than three poundsā2003 book, āGuardians of Time: Portraits of the Spirit of Latin America,ā illuminates more than two dozen native communities in eight countries. The bookās prologue is provided by Nobel Prize winner JosĆ© Saramago of Portugal.
BelĆ”ustegui now is working on two additional books, āAfrica in the Americasā and āTribal People of Asia.ā For more biographical information, see .
āSukiās work really tries to bring awareness about cultural diversity, and on some level, it rescues the forgotten communities around the world,ā said Karina Zelaya, Ļć½¶Ö±²„assistant professor of Spanish.
āThe thing that really sets his work apart from others is his use of light in a metaphorical sense,ā she continued. āHis photography looks into someoneās soul and captures their sentiment. He thinks of himself as beyond a photographer, more as a humanitarian.ā
BelĆ”usteguiās Ļć½¶Ö±²„visit and the related event are supported by the College of Arts and Sciencesā Institute for the Humanities and classical and modern languages and literatures department, along with the College of Architecture, Art and Designās art department.
For more on the March 8 program, contact Karyn Brown, arts and sciences communication director, at 662-325-6650 or kbrown@deanas.msstate.edu.
For more on the gallery display, contact Lori Neuenfeldt, the art departmentās gallery director, at 662-325-2973 or LNeuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.
Information about the College of Arts and Sciences and its units is found at ; the College of Architecture, Art and Design and its units, at .
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .