Look Now Gallery Honors 44 CNY Breast Cancer Survivors

By Anna Azallion – Syracuse, N.Y. (CitrusTV) – With October coming to a close, there’s only a few days left of the exhibition created by a S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications professor that honors breast cancer survivors.

Tula Goenka not only created the Look Now: Facing Breast Cancer exhibition, she participated in it as one of 44 local breast cancer survivors.

Goenka says that when she went through breast cancer in 2006, it was a very traumatic experience for her.

“I know for myself I had a lot of doubts about who I was as a woman, what it meant to be feminine and all those kinds of issues, especially in a society where female breasts are so sexualized,” she said.

It is her experience, and a visit to Newhouse by Christy Hefner, that made her start thinking about the idea for the Look Now exhibition.

The exhibition is not just a photo gallery, but a multimedia exhibition. It includes several components to accompany the photos: mirrors, a pink wall where guests can leave notes, and quotes from the participants on the walls.

The photo part of the exhibition features portraits alongside a photo of 25 participants’ bare chests, showing what Goenka described as their private battle scars.

The gallery, which is a project that was nine years in the making, displays a short film as well.

“I’m a filmmaker first and foremost and I’ll always make a short film or a documentary if I can,” Goenka said.

The seven-minute short film included in the exhibition shows behind the scenes footage of how the gallery came together.

In addition to the 25 participants whose names are alongside their portraits, there are 19 participants who chose to remain anonymous. These Central New York breast cancer survivors are featured in the show only through photographs of their bare chests.

Between all the participants – named and anonymous – a total of 44 CNY breast cancer survivors are in the exhibition. Goenka says she was searching for a number of participants with significance.

“I thought having 44 for a Syracuse project is actually quite profound,” Goenka said.

The Exhibition is open at the Point of Contact Gallery inside the SU Warehouse in downtown Syracuse through October 31st. The gallery is free and open to the public.