"Diversity of Devotion" in Brooklyn Public Library

Wednesday, 30 January 2008 22:06

Brooklyn, NY - The Central Brooklyn Public Library is currently hosting "Diversity of Devotion" in the Grand Lobby, through April 19, 2008.  We are expecting over 120,000 visitors to view the exhibit during its tenure.The Diversity of Devotion project, curated and developed by Jenny Jozwiak initially under the auspices of Positive Focus, Inc., began as a community based photo-documentary competition conceived in response to global religious tensions which have intensified in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The top winning entries selected by a panel of professionals in the curatorial, publishing and photography fields:
 
Alison Nordstrom - Curator of Photographs, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
 
Molly Roberts - Picture Editor, Smithsonian Magazine
 
Eli Reed - Award winning Magnum Photojournalist and Clinical Professor of Photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin
 
Tewfic El-Sawy - Egyptian born Culture and Travel Photographer and Lecturer
 
Russell Joslin - Editor / Publisher SHOTS Magazine
The exhibit has expanded to include 65 images, from 36 photographers, depicting 27 spiritual and religious beliefs, which encompass familiar religions, as well as those which are lesser-known such as: Voodou, Zoroastrianism, Sikh, Falun Gong, Wicca, Santeria and Rastafari.
 
A majority of the images feature people praying, practicing, singing, and meditating alone and in groups, in churches, mosques and temples, as well as spaces of their own creation. The project’s goal is to remind both artists and audiences how fortunate we are to live in a city where myriad beliefs coexist in peace, and celebrate the unique and beautiful found within each.
 
The "Diversity of Devotion" exhibit coincides with the Queens Museum of Art exhibition opening in April 2008, celebrating the 350 year anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance -- a document asserting freedom of conscience, toleration and religion in New York City.

Each year, more than 1.5 million people — almost the equivalent of the entire population of Brooklyn — use the Central Library. Containing more than 1.5 million books, magazines, and multimedia materials, it provides services to all ages, free Internet access throughout the building, and, since September of 1997, a Multilingual Center for non-English speakers and those interested in linguistics.

Opened on February 1, 1941, the Central Library is the major reference center for BPL's 60-location system. The library's notable architecture was created to resemble an open book, with the spine on Grand Army Plaza and the building’s two wings opening like pages onto Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue.
 
Visit The Central Brooklyn Public Library at : www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/