Visitors to the Metropolitan Cultural Center in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito this past week were able to view a traveling art exhibit with powerful message against all forms of antisemitic prejudice.
The “No Discriminarás” display — created by Argentine artist Adrián Franco, known as “Pati,” and sponsored by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) — featured a set of sketched vignettes portraying different manifestations of contemporary Jew-hatred — ranging from negative stereotyping of Jews to Holocaust denial — based on the the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism’s 11 examples.
The exhibit’s opening ceremony was attended by around 120 guests, including Vice Mayor of Quito Brith Vaca, Israeli Ambassador to Ecuador Zeev Harel, Ambassador of Hungary to Ecuador Miklós Tamás Paczuk, Ambassador of Mexico to Ecuador Raquel Serur, Ambassador of the European Union to Ecudaor Charles-Michel Geurts, Rabbi Nir Koren of the Ecuadorian Jewish community, and Director of the Einstein School Jorge Grijalva.
Dimos inicio a nuestra exposición ‘No Discriminarás’ en el Centro Cultural Metropolitano de Quito, Ecuador.
En el acto de inauguración nos acompañaron autoridades locales y diplomáticos de Israel, Hungría, Turquía y la Unión Europea. pic.twitter.com/PhEjjDUeVw— CAM en Español (@CAMenEspanol) April 20, 2023
More than 350 people visited the exhibit on its first day.
The exhibit — which was open to the general public with free admission — was developed by CAM in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Mayor of Quito, the Israeli Embassy in Ecuador, and the Einstein School.
Quito was the inaugural stop for the exhibit, which will next be displayed in Colombia before moving on to other parts of Latin America.
“The objective of the exhibition is to raise public awareness about the importance of fighting against different expressions of hate and discrimination,” CAM Director of Hispanic Outreach Shay Salamon said. “At CAM, we seek to continue denouncing antisemitism, and educating and inspiring more people to build bridges in the midst of differences.”
“No Discriminarás” was accompanied in Quito by two other exhibits — one designed by Yad Vashem to mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the second organized by Einstein School students offering a look at the history of Ecuador’s Jewish community.
