The cliché goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. How about a thousand stories? More like close to two million stories. That’s the estimated number of how many people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. According to The American Cancer Society’s 2009 fact sheet, New York State ranks as third with the highest amount of cases. One mustn’t forget the unspoken stories of those who have yet to be accounted for.

That’s where Nike and The Lance Armstrong Foundation come into play. Together, they created STAGES. Debuting at the Perrotin Gallery in Paris, STAGES is a traveling art exhibit that united artistic forces from around the world in order to join the fight against cancer. By enabling a platform for their message to be heard, untold stories are brought to life as exhibit-goers bear witness to their work.

Artists include Tom Sachs, KAWS, Shepard Fairey, José Parlá , Ed Ruscha and Cai Guo-Qiang to name a few. Upon entering the venue, one is welcomed by a huge rendition of the LIVESTRONG band made of yellow thumbtacks in the shape of the circular wristband. Geoff McFetridge gives refuge to the message of the band by stating “if each bracelet represents a person’s solidarity for the cause, each pin can also represent an individual, a survivor, a future survivor, or one who will come across cancer in his or her life, which is all of us.”

Not only is the exhibit informative, but it’s moving and compelling in a sense that once one experiences the show, they develop a sense of the community that exists in the LIVESTRONG movement. Exhibit-goers can enter a dark room which serves as a small theatre that showcases a short film with Nike CEO Mark Parker and Lance Armstrong as well as a handful of artists involved in the project. There they can have the opportunity to listen to why they were all brought together for their common purpose of making STAGES a reality.
The one piece that stood out to me was the one entitled “Heartbeats” by JR. From afar, it’s a strikingly bold portrait of an older South American woman named Linda, depicted through stacked speaker boxes. A rhythmic “dun dun, dun dun” repeats itself through the speakers and can be heard throughout the entire exhibit. Linda, a choral teacher, lost her voice to throat cancer, “yet her heart is still beating.” As you check out all the creative projects that makes STAGES, the messages is clear: hope lies in keeping that simple sound alive in all those affected.

Be sure to check out the website,www.stages09.com for more information.

-Melissa Enaje