Natasha Moustache: Lerozyon (l-EURO-zhuhn)
April 10–May 4, 2023
Closing Reception: Thursday, May 4, 5-8pm (Talk at 6:15PM)

Please join us for a closing reception and conversation with Natasha Moustache and Megha Ralapati.

“Lerozyon (l-EURO-zhuhn)” examines the daily rituals of cultural and botanical preservation that anchor the Seychellois people and traditions to their land despite an economic reliance on Western tourism and the steady cultural erosion endured as a result.

The Seychelles Islands, loosely tethered to the Horn of Africa, is an archipelago consisting of over 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. It has been called Paradise, the Original Colony, and the Garden of Eden. It is also where Natasha Moustache made thousands of portraits and vibrant landscapes while revisiting their grandparents’ homeland. Meticulously edited and exhibited within a lush, domestic installation “Lerozyon (l-EURO-zhuhn)” brings humanity and dimension to the islands that moves beyond the paradisiacal facade that has outwardly defined it.

This exhibition is partially sponsored by Columbia College’s Photography Department and the Stuart R. Abelson Graduate Research Fellowship. The Stuart R. Abelson Graduate Research Fellowship was established to encourage international travel among Photography students while completing a specific project and to support the experience by assisting with the costs of travel.

About the Speakers

Megha Ralapati is an independent curator, arts manager, writer from Chicago, where she oversees programs and fellowships for CEC ArtsLink, an organization dedicated to international exchange for artists. Megha specializes in artist mobility and has collaborated with community-centered organizations based in the US and internationally including Project Row Houses (Houston), ARTPORT Tel Aviv, and Center for Contemporary Art Lagos. She developed and oversaw the Jackman Goldwasser Residency at Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, where she forged partnerships with foundations, universities and other institutions to design intentional cross-cultural artistic exchanges.

Before joining Hyde Park Art Center in 2011, she was Director of Bose Pacia in New York, an international visual art gallery presenting contemporary work from across South Asia. Megha regularly participates in award and fellowship juries, presents workshops to artists of all levels, including at the School of the Art Institute, NYU, and most recently at Asiko, an experimental pan-African summer intensive for artists. She has contributed to publications for Documenta 14, Brooklyn Museum, Sharjah Art Foundation, among others. She is a board member of Artist Communities Alliance and Enrich Chicago.

Natasha Moustache is a photographic artist currently based in Chicago, Il. Moustache’s photography reflects their experience as a first-generation, Seychellois-American and explores the relationships between Black Diasporic communities within colonized spaces, centralizing Black women. Moustache’s work regularly engages strangers as long-term collaborator-participants. Moustache uses photography as a way to bring the human community into a conversation with itself that transcends difference and emphasizes commonality.

Moustache’s work has been shown at the Houston Center for Photography, the International Center for Photography, and the Center for Photography at Woodstock where they were an Artist in Residence (2005). Natasha recently received their MFA from Columbia College Chicago where they were awarded the Stuart Abelson Travel Fellowship (2019).

Image: Photograph by Natasha Moustache

This project is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Natasha Moustache: Lerozyon (l-EURO-zhuhn)
April 10–May 4, 2023
C33 Gallery–Columbia College Chicago
33 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, First Floor
Chicago, IL 60605
colum.edu/deps
Gallery Hours: Monday–Saturday 9 a.m.– 5 p.m.

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Tags: C33 Gallery, Columbia College Chicago, Lerozyon (L-EURO-ZHUHN), Loop, Megha Ralapati, Natasha Moustache