[IMC] NG's Melissa Merli intvw with IMC artist Betsem Benjamin

Sun Apr 29 16:46:15 UTC 2012

 Published on *News-Gazette.com* (http://www.news-gazette.com)

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Studio Visit: Betsem Benjamin
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Studio Visit: Betsem Benjamin
 Sun, 04/29/2012 - 8:00am | Melissa Merli
 [image: 20120427-111903-pic-240834722.jpg]<http://assets.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/imagecache/lightbox_800_600_scale/images/2012/04/21/20120427-111903-pic-240834722.jpg>
[1]
*Photo by: John Dixon/The News-Gazette*
Betsem Benjamin talks about his artwork in his studio in the basement of
the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center in Urbana.

*Studio Visit appears first in print, in Sunday editions of The
News-Gazette. Here, **Melissa Merli visits with **artist Betsem Benjamin at
his studio in Urbana. *

*Q: You're from Cameroon. How did you end up in Champaign-Urbana?*

*A: *I was in Arizona and invited by the University of Illinois to come
here for a summer African language institute. I was working on a project on
the relationship of anthropology and art. After I came here, I understood,
after meeting people, there was no African artist doing exactly what I am
doing: teaching African anthropology through the arts. I went back to
Arizona and then came back here in August 2008.

*Q: Why did you stay?*

*A: *Because the moment I started working, I started being connected with a
lot of people. First, I met Sam Smith (engagement director at Krannert
Center for the Performing Arts) and Chris Evans, the (Urbana-Champaign
Independent Media Center) building coordinator at the time. He was an
artist. He said, "OK, we want to have you here." I started working here at
the IMC in February '09.

*Q: Are you the artist-in-residence at the IMC?*

*A: *Yes, they call me artist-in-residence, but basically I'm just working
in the studio here. Now we're working on the conditions of being an
artist-in-residence here.

*Q: Do you paint with oils?*

*A: *No, I work in acrylics, especially because of the weather conditions
here. I like to use acrylics because they dry fast. In the summers, I use
oils.

*Q: You've been a top seller in the Artists Against AIDS show the past
three years, haven't you?*

*A: *Yes. The first time, Atef Ayadi (a Tunisian artist with a studio at
the IMC) called me the first day of the show and told me I had sold six
paintings. A lot of people were talking about my art because I was new.

*Q: Do you show and sell your paintings elsewhere?*

*A: *Yes, I have different paintings at Radio Maria, and I just finished
some stuff to take to Caffe Paradiso. I've also gone to the National Black
Arts Festival in Atlanta, Ga., the Chicago African Festival of the Arts and
the African Art Village in Tucson, Ariz. That's part of the Tucson Gem Show.

*Q: Why do you think people here like your paintings?*

*A: *Because there is something special in them related to society. I work
in a building where people talk about social justice and activism. I am not
a social activist; I describe myself as a person who has something to say.
People who listen need to have open ears and open minds. What I do is new
in Champaign because I talk about another Africa, different than what's
depicted in the media: AIDS, corruption, civil war, etc. etc. I am
well-known here, from the elementary schools to the university, because I
taught art programs at Wiley Elementary School and Uni High. At Wiley, it
was a special program about cultural diversity. I call the program "Using
Art to See the World." I taught the students how to paint African symbols
from Dogon, in Mali. These were used as scripture, to communicate, before
Europeans invaded Africa. That helps me to tell them people still describe
African history from the point of the arrival of Europeans and that is a
lie and it must stop. I tell them that centuries before Europe invaded
Africa, African countries had social organizations. I tell them that each
nation has its own civilization. Each civilization equates to another.
There is no superior or inferior civilization.

*Q: The work you did with students at Wiley is now on display at Urbana
City Hall, right?*

*A: *The art teacher at Wiley told me there is a program ("Artist in the
Corridor") at City Hall and that the kids would be able to display their
art there. Finally, that happened in March 2012.

Editor's note: The "Dogon Symbols of Africa" display is on view through
April 30 at the Urbana City Building. The Artists Against AIDS show is
through Sunday (April 29) at the McKinley Fitness Center, 500 W. Church
St., C. See www.artistsagainstaids.info.

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303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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