UNL Art Graduate students give public lecture on recent trip to China on April 23

Allen Morris delivers a lecture on the resurgence of historic processes in contemporary photography at Xian Jiaotong University in China.
Allen Morris delivers a lecture on the resurgence of historic processes in contemporary photography at Xian Jiaotong University in China.

UNL Art Graduate students give public lecture on recent trip to China on April 23

calendar icon08 Apr 2014    

Chadric Devin visits with students about his work.
Chadric Devin visits with students about his work.

Chadric Devin and Allen Morris will provide a public lecture to discuss their recent journey to Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China. Devin and Morris were invited by the American Exchange Center, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln entity. Morris and Devin will display photographs from their stay in China, and they will discuss their interactions with the students of Xi’an Jiaotong and the university Photo Club, along with their cultural experiences.

The lecture will be Wednesday, April 23 at 4:00 in the classroom area of Woods Art Building Room 13.

Two Graduate photo students visit China

Two Department of Art and Art History graduate students in photography traveled to China over spring break to meet with students at Xi'an Jiaotong University’s photography week.

Chadric Devin, from Cole Camp, Mo., and Allen Morris, of Baker City, Ore., delivered lectures and had an exhibition featuring the work from 10 UNL photography students titled "Revealing Nebraska."

Last year, 10 photographs from UNL were sent to Xi'an Jiaotong University’s American Exchange Center (AEC) for “Nebraska Week.”

“The AEC was so impressed with the photographs and the interest of the Jiaotong student body that they offered to fly Chadric and I to Xi’an for a week to interact with the students at Xi'an Jiaotong University Photo Club,” Morris said.

They re-exhibited the photographs of the 10 students, which included works by Devin and Morris and eight undergraduate students, and Devin and Morris each presented a lecture. They also brought more of their current work to discuss with the students.

“The experience for me was major, to say the least,” Morris said. “I have never had the opportunity to leave the country and travel abroad prior to this trip, so it was an earth-rattling experience.”

He enjoyed the interaction with the students.

“I think the best part was being able to interact with the students at Xian Jiaotong,” Morris said. “They were exceptionally bright and incredibly interested in the work that Chadric and I were discussing, along with the photographs that were up at the university. The students had many great questions ranging from ‘Why do you make this art?’ to ‘How can you make a living doing this?’ and all points in between."

Devin said his work was well received.

"A lot of the alternative photographic processes I use in creating my work were new to the Chinese students," he said. "They were very receptive in learning and trying to understand why I made my work the way I did. It was very humbling to see so many people genuinely interested in what I am doing in my life and career."

They also had a chance to visit the Xi'an City Wall and the Muslim Quarter, as well as the Terra Cotta Warriors.

“I think the experience was wonderful," Devin said. "This was my first time traveling abroad. It was definitely a challenge, but the friendships and experiences I encountered were well worth it."