Resilient Voices: a Multimedia Exhibition Celebrating Youth Empowerment, Global Perspectives, and the Legacy of Anne Frank

As part of Book Festival 2024, Dr. Kirsten Kumpf Baele, Associate Professor of Instruction in the Division of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures (DWLLC) and Director of the Anne Frank Initiative at the University of Iowa and Undergraduate Research Fellow Ana Laura Leyser created a multimedia exhibition for display on the first floor of the Iowa City Public Library. The exhibit will run from Tuesday, October 15 to Friday, October 25.

An accompanying event, Anne Frank's Diary - A Multilingual, Multimedia Reading, will take place at Iowa City Public Library on October 20 at 2:00 PM. Youth between the ages of 12 and 17 will read aloud passages from The Diary of Anne Frank in their home languages. Dr. Theodore Rosengarten, MacArthur Fellowship recipient and scholar of African American and Holocaust History will be here to speak and lead a discussion afterwards based on his decades of research and writing. 

The week long exhibit at ICPL includes a digital display uplifting the voices of youth survivors of war and conflict. This digital display will take place on iPads located on tables in the magazine area. Ideally, these digital stories will inspire the public to engage one another in conversation around these important topics.

There will also be prose and artistic submissions on a nearby accordion wall from local youth who have their own stories about conflict, war, resistance, struggle, and survival. The global is indeed local, and this connection will also showcase the talent of local young people. The struggles across time and cultures are ongoing. While the content in these stories is difficult and challenges us to keep looking and feeling, the ultimate goal is to raise awareness and create action so fewer children and youth suffer.

A special thank you to all collaborators and contributors locally, including City of Literature, Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), Division of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures (DWLLC), Iowa Youth Writing Project (IYWP), International Programs & Anne Frank Initiative (AFI), and the Center for Language and Culture Learning (CLCL).

Would you like to participate in the Multilingual, Multimedia Reading on Sunday, October 20? If you are a young person between the ages of 12 and 17, and you speak a language other than English at home, please reach out directly to Kirsten Kumpf Baele at Kirsten-Kumpf@uiowa.edu by noon on Tuesday, October 15.