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Wind Chill hits Memorial Library lobby
By Erik Opsal
Library Communications
Posted 2/26/2008
MADISON, Wis. – For those of us who have lived through one of Wisconsin’s winters, we know how cold and harsh it can be. But what about those who have never felt the sensation of a -35 degree breeze coming in off Lake Mendota?
What began as the digital creative writing project "Traducciones del frio" ("Translations of the cold"), is now an exhibit in the Memorial Library lobby, and it seeks to answer this question. The exhibit, called Wind Chill Factor, presents writings from 15 UW-Madison graduate students from nearly every continent, representing countries such as Cameroon, Mexico, Brazil, China, Germany, Greece and France.
Descriptions appear in the writer’s native language along with a translation into English, as well as a selection of books from Memorial Library. The exhibit runs until March 24, and a reading by contributors will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in Tripp Commons on Tuesday, March 11.
The concept for the exhibit was developed by Memorial Librarian Paloma Celis Carbajal, Spanish doctoral student Giannina Reyes and Memorial Librarian Beth Harper.
"The extreme winter of this corner of our planet will always amaze us and leave us without the precise words to do it justice,” wrote Carbajal and Harper in the exhibit introduction. “That is, unless you are part of the lucky few who have the magic to capture them, freeze them and come up with a way to keep them from slipping through your fingers."
Graphic Designer Dan Joe designed and installed the exhibit. An online version of the exhibit was created by Memorial Librarian Tony Krier.
The following sample comes from Vanessa Fitzgibbon of São Paulo, Brazil:
Ask any Brazilian living in Brazil what one of her dreams is and she will answer: "To have a white Christmas!" I was not the exception. That white, beautiful and romantic snow that gives off a sense of peace, prosperity and beauty is what I thought only existed in civilized and educated countries; while we, poor Latin Americans, had to melt in the scorching tropical sun of December without being able to conceive of something as beautiful as the snow.
Now, ask any Brazilian living in a noble, civilized and Nordic country what is one of her dreams and she will answer: "To go back during Christmas to that warm, joyful, happy, rhythmic place on the earth with its dances, its cadence, its delicious food, and run away from this cold that makes me depressed, sour and sad." And then you could ask her back: "Weren't you the one that wanted to have a white Christmas?" And she will respond: "Well, I was…"
Life seems to have a very interesting sense of humor, especially in my case. I remember being one of those Brazilians, whose biggest dream was to see the snow and to live in a place where the heat was kept to a minimum so I could breathe, finally, the civilized and noble cold air. Today, I look out my window and I'm in one of these places: the top of the mountain is white, frozen with snow. The lake has frozen. The people are frozen in their own worlds; isolated because of their coldness. And here I am, with nostalgic tears frozen in my face…
