A Card of Opportunity, A Card of Death, Zachary Melonas

Grade: 8

Art Dimensions: 18" x 20"

Art Description/materials: Ink and color on paper

Artist's Statement: My piece represents the cards used to show ethnic identity. The custom of identity cards was introduced by the Belgians during the Rwandan colonization. They brought ideas of “race science” in which one race was believed superior to another. I depict a tattered identity card. One side of a woman’s face is like a specter, showing that carrying the card resulted in her death.