If you were to walk through the quad in front of the MacVittie College Union right now, you would notice that many of the cracks and designs in the cement are filled with red sand. This is part of a global art installation, the Red Sand Project, invented by Molly Gochman in 2014.
Gochman created this international movement in the hopes of using art installations, like the one at Geneseo, to bring awareness to issues of slavery. It is estimated that around 40.3 million people “live in slavery, whether in forced marriages, forced labor or for sexual exploitation.”
The Geneseo Red Sand Project exhibit took the form of a sidewalk installation on Wednesday Sept. 16. Around 30 to 40 students and faculty members were seen crouching together and quietly pouring the red sand into various cracks along the Geneseo quad.
There is also a section of the project titled “Earthworks,” a category of much larger installations that can be embedded in the ground. The Red Sand Project website explains, “stretching hundreds of feet long in the shapes of political borders, earthworks raise important questions about migration, freedom of movement, and the ways refugees are susceptible to exploitation.”
The solemn tone of the event was set in the first few minutes with moving speeches from the organizers, faculty gallery director Cynthia Hawkins and student gallery director Rachel Mihlstin.
These were followed by a speech from the Provost Stacey Robertson. Robertson particularly emphasized that the average age of human trafficking victims is 13 years old. She encouraged participants in the event to check their human trafficking footprint (link) and to forego companies that use unethical labor.
Mihlstin explained that Hawkins had reached out to her about working together on the event. Given the project’s ability to be socially distanced and the relevance of the topic, the pair decided that this event should proceed as planned.
Some students RSVPd to go to the event over email and others stumbled upon it while walking through the area.
Biophysics major senior Kristen Zarcone explained that while she had heard about the event, she ended up attending because she was studying near it and some of her friends were there.
“It’s obviously for a really good cause, so I decided to come and see if I could join in a put sand down,” Zarcone said. “But now that I’m here, I’m realizing how important it is to keep coming back to these events and keep pushing for the issue.”
Zarcone went on to explain how the event made her realize she needed to educate herself and others more on the topic of modern slavery.
“I had heard of the issue [before the event], but I was not very educated on it,” Zarcone said. “This made me realize that I need to educate myself on it and try to spread awareness of the issue and how everyone can do little things to try to help.”
Mihlstin agreed that bringing awareness to the issue was important.
“It’s a very taboo topic honestly,” Mihlstin said. “A lot of people are uncomfortable with the fact that today we still [have] these kinds of slavery. Honestly, I think the younger generations do recognize it, but even from starting and executing this project I’ve learned a lot a more about it. I think [this] was a great opportunity for that to happen.”