NEW ORLEANS, La., — Mexican-born artist Enrique Alferez’s mural Symbols of Communication is to be centrally featured in the New Orleans Museum of Art’s (NOMA) 2020 auditorium renovation, which began earlier this year.
“Symbols of Communication highlights the power and importance of systems of communication, as well as the roles that art has to play in helping us reach across cultures to connect with others,” said Susan Taylor, Montine McDaniel Freeman director of NOMA. “In a time when communication and mutual understanding is more critical than ever, our hope is that Enrique Alferez’s mural will serve as a powerful reminder of art’s ability to unify and reflect issues of topical interest.”
Credit: Courtesy of New Orleans Museum of Art
Alferez’s mural weaves together characters and symbols represented in a number of human languages across the globe — both from the past and present day. Symbols of Communication includes Roman and Greek alphabets, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Mayan glyphs, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese characters, and the dots and dashes of Morse code and Braille, just to name a few.
In addition to the implementation of Symbols of Communication, the auditorium renovation will create a modern space with surround sound and theatrical lighting. The renovation will also make room for the seating of up to 360 people and allow the auditorium to be used in multiple capacities — including a theater, banquet space, lecture hall and more.
About NOMA
Founded in 1910 by Isaac Delgado, NOMA houses over 40,000 works of art spanning 5,000 years of history. NOMA is also home to the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden featuring works by more than 85 artists. To learn more visit noma.org.
