The Freedom Series was the first official Art Against Oppression endeavor. This was visual artist Armando Heredia's response to the social and political oppression in Syria.
"The image of a people being destroyed by their own government for seeking the freedom that I enjoy was so impacting to me. Several of the events there moved me , but none as much as an article about a twelve year old boy who was brutally murdered by the government. As the father of a twelve year old (at the time) I was literally dumbstruck. I did three pieces of work and felt compelled to share them and create dialogue with people about this travesty. This series has hung in several venues, one for only 48 hours of its planned one month exhibit. The venue was a nice restaurant and the room the exhibit was in was relatively small. The series completely dominated the room and the customers were understandably disturbed by the images. To me, that was a very successful show." -Armando
Below is an interview that aired on Fox2 News in St. Louis, MO. that features the series and delves a little into the motivation for Art Against Oppression.
*Artist's Note: "A little rough on the pronunciation of Heredia, but I am thankful for the coverage. I was actually only in one foster home. Tom and Beverly took my older brother and I in and treated us like displaced princes. We went back and forth between family after that."
This series is part of the Awareness Tour and raises awareness about political and social injustice and an organization called The International Justice Mission.
