Activism, Advocacy, Art

A large wall display of baskets woven by women artisans in Rwanda is a gift for Conn

Last fall, Taylor Austin ’24 attended a New York City fundraiser for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and secured a gift for Conn: a large wall display of baskets woven by women artisans in Rwanda. 

Austin and her father, Scott, won the art, a donation to the fundraiser from Azizi Life, in a silent auction. The fair-trade organization has an ongoing relationship with the Fossey Fund and partners with skilled artisans in Rwanda to bring their work to the world. Azizi Life estimates that about seven months of handcraft work went into the piece, which features several original designs and seven bowls inspired by the unique nose-prints of a few of the area’s famous gorillas. The 12.5’ x 6.5’ display is now part of Conn’s Campus Art Collection and located in Unity House.

The fundraiser celebrated the 40th anniversary of Dian Fossey’s book, Gorillas in the Mist, and the 35th anniversary of the film adaptation starring Sigourney Weaver as Fossey, a primatologist and conservationist who was tragically murdered in Rwanda in 1985 after nearly 20 years studying gorillas and seeking to protect them from poachers. 

Austin, who describes herself as passionate about sustainability and conservation, attended the fundraiser to support the Fossey Fund’s goals of protecting the critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda. She also wanted to meet Weaver. The film star’s recent work, which Austin characterized as “empowering, subversive and resistant to the stereotypes surrounding older women in film,” inspired her senior thesis, “Aging on the Margins: The Older Woman as a Queer^ Subject.”

“I really wanted to be able to thank her for everything that she’s done for me both personally and academically, helping me find my passions through her films and activist work,” Austin said. “I found this art through film, in a sense, and I was thinking about how art can spread messages, sometimes in nontraditional ways.”

Austin donated the baskets to Conn to raise awareness of the fund’s message and share the beautiful art with as many people as possible. 

“My father and I thought that it really aligned well with the intertwined nature of activism and advocacy that is so integral to Conn’s community,” Austin said. “I often notice that conservation efforts are kept very separate from activism efforts rooted in community and social justice—particularly regarding equitable access to food, water and other essential resources—but the approach at Conn is very integrated. You see that with the Fossey Fund and Azizi Life, too. This art benefits the environment as well as the surrounding Rwandan communities that provide critical support to the Fund’s mission. This perfectly reflects the expansive spirit of activism at Conn.”

Laura Becker, Conn’s director of gift planning, agrees. “Many of the pieces in our Campus Art Collection are traditional works of art rather than contemporary ones made within the last year, so this is exciting,” she said. “We decided it would fit nicely in the PepsiCo room at Unity House, a meaningful gift in honor of Unity House’s 50th anniversary.”