Humanae
Works by Angèlica Dass

The internationally acclaimed Humanæ project makes its United States Midwest debut at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts.

Humanae is a collection of portraits that reveal the diverse beauty of human colors. The initiative, created in 2006 by Madrid-based photographer Angelica Dass, has traveled to more than 30 countries across six continents — from The World Economic Forum in Davos to the pages of National Geographic — to promote dialogue that challenges how we think about skin color and ethnic identity.

It invites viewers to actively engage, question, and wonder … what do I make of this, how do I feel about it, what might I do in response?

Subjects for “Humanae” are never selected. They represent a broad swath of humanity, from an occupant of the Forbes list to residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, Swiss students to refugees who’ve crossed the Mediterranean, newborns to the terminally ill. The 4,000 portraits were made in 33 cities across 19 countries, ranging from Madrid, Spain to Daegu, South Korea.

Angélica Dass is an award-winning photographer living in Madrid, Spain. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, she is acutely aware of how small differences in skin tone can swell into large misconceptions and stereotypes about race.

In 2016, her career launched to new dimensions with her TED Global Talk, which confirmed the great potential of her work to go beyond photography, becoming a tool for social change promoting dialogue and challenging cultural prejudices. Today, this TED talk has more than two million views.

Angélica amplifies the educational message of Humanae through institutional collaborations around the world including city councils of different cities in the Basque Country, teacher training schools in Madrid, highschools in the Czech Republic, even UNESCO and the Government of Chile (reaching more than 50,000 students in a week). She has spoken at the University of Salamanca, University of Bologna, National Geographic, and at the World Economic Forum as a cultural leader.

Angélica founded the Humanae Institute, a non-profit educational platform that works to position diversity as a value in the educational process.