You’re Invited: A Momentary Gallery of Global Art

In early 2018, the Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump disparaged millions in referring to various nations as “shithole countries.” His brazenly racist comment wrongly suggests that talent, innovation and creativity are limited by geographic boundaries. In fact, new ideas and perspectives are often derived from the unique experiences of people who come of age in developing nations. The challenge is finding a way to share those ideas with as many people as possible. How can the voices of innovative thinkers from developing nations be heard beyond national borders? How can we best highlight their creative work?

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The Third World is not a reality but an ideology.

-Hannah Arendt

ThoughtMatter launched a 12-week initiative to showcase the creative work of artists with roots in developing nations. Every Friday, we explored the work of new painters, illustrators, sculptors, animators, musicians, filmmakers and more. This “Shithouse Series” culminated in an in-studio event. We transformed our office space into a gallery to display and present these creative works to our colleagues and friends. Creativity is not bound to any one part of the world, but modern media structures mean we must actively seek a diversity of perspectives.