First, let me say thank you to our readers and all friends of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance! In December, we marked our 21st anniversary. It wouldn’t have been possible to mark this many New Years without your support and your deep love for the cultural community.

While many things have changed, it remains true that arts, culture, history, and humanities provide us with connections to one another, to our ethics, and to a greater understanding of one another. They also help us to remember.

I was particularly struck by this truth in reading about a project that honors the 108 Chibok girls who are still missing nearly nine years after Islamist insurgents Boko Haram kidnapped them from their school dormitory in the northeast Nigerian state of Borno. While the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which started in 2014 has largely faded, the girls’ faces are now being remembered in a new exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Their portraits were sculpted in clay in a collaboration between French artist Prune Nourry, university students, professional potters, and the families of the victims. Inspired by ancient Nigerian Ife terracotta heads and titled "Statues Also Breathe," the sculptures recreate their faces, facial expressions, and hair patterns.



You can see this moving work that will tour the world as a reminder of the value of their lives, and the lives and education of all women by following this link.

As we reflect on the year before us, let us continue to think, write, create, and remember. And let’s also continue to support the artists who make our lives, the lives of our children, and the future look so promising.

Happy New Year!

Jeannie