Pedro Lasch, “Coatlicue and Las Meninas: The Stanford Edition,” from the “Black Mirror/Espejo Negro” series, 2007/2025, specialty gray glass and archival fabric print on steel and aluminum frame, 122 x 106 inches. Courtesy of Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies.
As people move to and around the country, they transform communities, perhaps nowhere as strikingly as in fast-growing North Carolina. As the long-established Native, Black, and white citizens of the state welcome Latino and Asian newcomers into this “new Southern immigrant gateway,” once-separated groups are building new futures together and understanding themselves anew through the eyes of their neighbors.
Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS), Zócalo Public Square, and Asheville Art Museum present a special event – How Do We See Ourselves in Each Other? – Friday, May 2, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
This program is inspired by Coatlicue & Las Meninas: The Stanford Edition (2007/2025) by Mexican American artist Pedro Lasch. The piece is a 10-foot black mirror merging Diego Velázquez’s iconic painting Las Meninas (1656) and the monumental sculpture of the Mexica deity Coatlicue (1400s), commissioned by IAJS and on view at Asheville Art Museum through July 13.
Visitors are invited to view the artwork and hear a talk between Asheville Art Museum associate curator Jessica Orzulak and artist Pedro Lasch, who will discuss the work’s larger themes, including how mirrors encourage viewers to reflect on the movement of people, ideas, and objects across time and space.
A panel moderated by Stanford IAJS founding faculty co-director Tomás Jiménez and featuring philosopher and ethicist Kwame Anthony Appiah, immersive journalism and extended reality (XR) pioneer Nonny de la Peña, and immigrant integration advocate Federico Rios will follow, discussing the ways Americans, old and new, see ourselves in each other.
The audience will be able to continue the conversation with the artist, speakers, and each other at a post-event reception with complimentary drinks, small bites, art-viewing, and entertainment.
The event is free and registration is encouraged. For tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-do-we-see-ourselves-in-each-other-tickets-1253888737969?aff=AAM. For more information, visit ashevilleart.org/event/how-do-we-see-ourselves-in-each-other/.
