Worcester Art Exhibit Raises Questions About Genocide

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

"Menage a Trois" by Elliot W. Salloway.

Project eXodus, founded by a Worcester artist and periodontist, will explore the issues of genocide and human nature in its first exhibit.

The exhibit, entitled “Can Genocide Be Prevented? The Two Sides of Human Nature” will run June 5th through July 3rd at the Dzian Gallery in Worcester. The inaugural show for Project eXodus will open with a reception and sale on June 5th from 5 to 9 pm.

All proceeds from the art sold will benefit Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, which offers the only doctoral program in the world dedicated to studying genocide. Project eXodus was co-founded by local artist and periodontist Dr. Elliot Salloway, who hopes the exhibition will get people thinking.

“Our hope is to reduce the perpetrators and bystanders who are part of every genocide by increasing the pool of ‘rescuers,’” Dr. Salloway said. “Education through art will hopefully enable those who participate in this project and view the art better understand the duality of human nature.”

Art by Dr. Salloway, as well as fellow co-founder Manuel Schroeder will be available for purchase. Schroeder, an artist from Berlin, Germany, met Dr. Salloway while the Worcester native was traveling through Europe. Dr. Salloway became interested in Schroeder’s art while abroad.

"Conflict Tango" by Elliot W. Salloway.

All art at the show will be based on the theme “Can Genocide Be Prevented” and explore all of our human potentials, both good and bad. In addition to the two co-founders, art by Worcester students aged 14 and older will be available.

Dr. Salloway has been a periodontist in Worcester for 49 years, and has seen his art and photography exhibited at the Miami Historical Museum, Worcester City Arts and The New Gallery in Boston to name a few. He is also a faculty member at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and uses photography extensively as a teaching tool.

With this exhibit, he hopes the art will serve as a teaching tool for all.

“More than 262 million people throughout the world were murdered as a result of genocide in the 20th century,” Dr. Salloway said. “We believe that art can be used to help ensure a more peaceful 21st century.”