Philly’s Freedom

How do we define “liberty”? What does it mean to be “free”? These are questions and concepts that that we have grappled with at the National Liberty Museum for more than 20 years, and questions we continue to explore. Philly’s Freedom is an exhibitio...

How do we define “liberty”? What does it mean to be “free”? These are questions and concepts that that we have grappled with at the National Liberty Museum for more than 20 years, and questions we continue to explore. Philly’s Freedom is an exhibition highlighting home-grown heroes from right here in the City of Brotherly & Sisterly love. The exhibition showcases artwork from a group of multicultural artists depicting how they interpret freedom from their perspective as Philadelphians.

We invite you on this journey to explore what freedom means through a diverse collection of stories, reflections, and images from Philadelphia artists. While many of these works are reflected through the lens of large, important events such as a global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement, others are focused on more personal issues around identity, love, and the struggle to communicate and stay connected in a world that continues to be fragmented and divisive.

Serena
Saunders

Push Back & "No Time To Break" Project

28" H x 22" W x 1/2 D & 24H x 36W ea.

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Brewerytown

Serena Saunders

Push Back & "No Time To Break" Project

28" H x 22" W x 1/2 D & 24H x 36W ea.

“I define freedom as the right to be educated and equipped with the information needed to vision a life for yourself. The right to work for and pursue it without unjust hindrance.”

The Push Series, Push Back

The Push Series is a work-in-progress. I am exploring how to illustrate the energy associated with the traditional “Black Power Fist” in a way that incorporates the present. The iconic fist has been a symbol of solidarity and support. It is also about the fight ‘for what’s right’- which is a very loaded idea. This is still our reality. The Push Series explores other ways this action can be visually presented (represented).

While working this concept a new slogan and image was on the rise in the fight against racial injustices - “Hands-Up Don’t Shoot”. Again, our hands are in the air. This time to fight back was almost, at least visually, to not fight at all. With the hope that this lack of fight, could be lifesaving. Having a teenage son at this time, all I could do is see him having to invoke this gesture. The visual makes my heart ache.

Push Back is a painting of my son. It’s about pushing back, through and up. When painting I pull from a spiritual place. Here, I wanted to, in a way, speak over my son’s life. To represent that we are pushing back against injustice by giving our best to every day.

No Time To Break

The Canvas Car Project, Driving towards Justice
A broken break light results in death... in a matter of seconds.

Research began to find the canvas- an identical car to that which Philando Castile had his ideas, dreams, and hopes laid to a final and reckless rest. Pouring over evidence, to locate the police car dash camera footage, as haunting as it is, to find the canvas – a 1997, white, Oldsmobile 88'. This led me on a 13hr drive between Philadelphia and Ohio, where I would sit in the driver’s seat to a car almost identical to that which Philando had been killed.

The car is now a piece of art, celebrating the life of Philando Castile, bringing attention to his unjust death, and highlighting the ever so urgent issue of the misuse of Police Force (Police Brutality). This project is taking a very specific look at the alarming ratio of deaths among minorities following a routine traffic stop or subsequent event of a traffic stop. Philando Castile’s portrait is painted on the hood of the car on the side in which he sat. The event of that fatal traffic stop represented throughout the car/canvas.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Serena Saunders is a full-time mother and practicing artist. Native to Philadelphia, Serena's core is fine art but she also creates in the realm of fashion design and writing. Her work as a painter has a fresh, color-strong perspective that speaks to our imagination while the subjects ask of our awareness. Her often large-scale, graphically bold and poetically composed paintings offer the viewer layers of narrative. The painter works with a color palette that gives her intricate prints a world of their own. She then uses these environments on canvas as a backdrop to her portraits and their stories. You will often find a matter of injustice or undying hope fighting its way through the line work to prevail at the surface. Her work is influenced by her compassion towards youth and community. This affection for the youth was nurtured during her decade spent teaching art and poetry at more than a dozen schools and non-profit organizations throughout Philadelphia and neighboring states. She has shown in spaces such as galleries and international fairs as well as local shops and cafes, you could even find her serving up free art classes outside on the sidewalks of her neighborhoods. Serena Saunders has also served as the Creative Ambassador for the City of Philadelphia and has been featured in numerous publications including Rolling Out, The Philadelphia Tribune, and local televised news outlets.

Chuck
Styles

PICK & We The People

36" H x 48" W x 2" D (x 2)

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King of Prussia

Chuck Styles

PICK & We The People

36" H x 48" W x 2" D (x 2)

“As we walk into the future fighting for our justice, we carry the stories of generations before us for we will be the ancestors for generations to come.”

We The People

Inspired by the recent protests against police brutality and supremacy and the general fight for the right to live peacefully as a black citizen in America. As we walk into the future fighting for our justice, we carry the stories of generations before us for we will be the ancestors for generations to come.

PICK

Instead of focusing on the hurt and anger of that time I wanted to create something beautiful. The Afro Pick became popular in the 70’s and meant so much more than just a comb for our natural hair. It was a sign of our pride, independence and strength. Juxtaposed against a cotton field as a sign of resilience and uprising, this is the evolution of PICK. Know that we have been through many things and have overcome. From POWERLESS to EMPOWERED.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

To create artwork that my family, children and grandchildren can be inspired by, see themselves in, and be proud of the legacy I am leaving is my artistic mission. Unknown to me was how many people, their children, and grandchildren would have the same moving feeling when seeing themselves within the art. Juxtaposing historical context, cultural aesthetics and modern black imagery has become my voice to help connect the diaspora. I will be the ancestor my future great great grandchildren will be empowered by I tell myself. Artwork that embraces and uplifts black culture with creative concepts that connect all ages as well as educate those who support Black History and Culture.

Charlie
Dunkel

City of Neighborhoods No.1 & City of Neighborhoods No.2

Paper size: 9" H x 12" W | Framed: 14" H x 17" W (x 2)

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Brewerytown

Charlie Dunkel

City of Neighborhoods No.1 & City of Neighborhoods No.2

Paper size: 9" H x 12" W | Framed: 14" H x 17" W (x 2)

“So many people look to the skyscrapers and historic artifacts when they imagine Philadelphia, but for myself and most natives of this city we turn to the less glamorous but still beautiful and fruitful aspects of life here for fulfillment and connectivity.”

As I bike through the city blocks in the surrounding areas of my place of dwelling in Olde Kensington, it’s difficult for me not to constantly divert my attention from the road to the regular happenings that take place in these neighborhoods on any given day. There is such great depth in the sense of culture and community on these blocks. Whether it is a casual conversation between two neighbors on their stoops or the youth practicing their wheelies, I’ve become so drawn to these inevitable daily happenings and the symbiotic nature of these communities. These illustrations intend to embody the spirit of these neighborhoods where many have flourished, and many have suffered. Depicted in these paintings are a few recognizable icons, but above all I intend to capture the essence of these areas through the memories I’ve collected walking and biking the streets with old friends and new ones. So many people look to the skyscrapers and historic artifacts when they imagine Philadelphia, but for myself and most natives of this city we turn to the less glamorous but still beautiful and fruitful aspects of life here for fulfillment and connectivity.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

“Chunkel” is the alias of 23 year old artist, Charlie Dunkel. He is an American illustrator and artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA. Charlie has been showing his paintings and drawings since 2016 and later began freelancing as an illustrator and designer after working on children’s books and album covers for independent writers and musicians.

Lyn
Godley

Blue Waters, Blood Waters

38.25" H x 107.25" W x 1.5" D

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East Falls

Lyn Godley

Blue Waters, Blood Waters

38.25" H x 107.25" W x 1.5" D

“Blue Waters/Blood Waters represents this dichotomy, with the cool blue waters bleeding out to red hot waves before they wash themselves clean again repeatedly over time, the never-ending battle for freedom and the pursuit of happiness.”

Blue Waters/Blood Waters was created after a trip to Italy, during which I visited Pompeii and then the Isle of Ischia off the coast of Naples. I was struck by the beauty of the water, while at the same time, not being able to rid myself of the thought of waves of lava flowing over an entire population on its way to the sea, or of the over 15,000 refugees who, between 2013 and 2018, had drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean seeking freedom from oppression. The pristine beaches and blue waters were a sharp contrast against the reality of the struggle for much of the world’s population’s search for a better life.

Blue Waters/Blood Waters represents this dichotomy, with the cool blue waters bleeding out to red hot waves before they wash themselves clean again repeatedly over time, the never-ending battle for freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Lyn Godley began her career working with Light in Fine Arts. Since then her work has crossed the borders of interiors, product, furniture, lighting, and jewelry. Her designs, done both individually and as partner of Godley-Schwan (1984-1998) have been exhibited internationally. The Crinkle Lamp, the last piece designed jointly by Godley-Schwan, was accepted into the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in 1998. Her work is in numerous museum and private collections.

In 1998, after the closing of Godley-Schwan, Godley returned to Fine Art with a focus on merging light and art. As a light artist, her work explores the relationship between art and technology, but more importantly the impact on the viewer. From highly detailed pixels of light embedded into drawings, to programmed LEDs that create animated images that mesmerize, to large scale public art installations; she explores the merging of art and lighting and the experience it provokes. She creates layered environments that play with themes of interactive observation, movement and user-behavior.

She is interested in how the integration of light in artwork can create a deeper conversation by affecting the environment and ultimately the user. Research into visual as well as nonvisual effects of light and imagery, is leading to trials on the potential use of light art in healthcare.

This process is grounded in Godley’s love of making, which is driven by the tactile quality enjoyed through her manipulation of materials. Although technology plays an important role in Godley’s work, she continues to combine that with traditional artistic medium; watercolor, pastel, charcoal, etc. Her sensibilities result in delicate adjustment of medium and materials in response to light as it travels through or is reflected off of their surfaces. This work is made through the animation of LEDs, not computer programs. This grounding in material studies, extended into electronics and circuitry, is further enriched through her research into the psychological and physiological effects that imagery, light and color have on the viewers. Her work is the result of these ongoing investigations, provoking questions regarding how the merger of light and materials might be used to speak to us, to mesmerizes, to excite, to calm, and heal.

In addition to her studio work, she is a fulltime Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Jefferson – Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University. There, Godley is developing a Cross-Disciplinary concentration in Lighting Design with a focus on Light as Experience. She has spoken on the topics of Light and Health, and Cross-Disciplinary Lighting Design Education at both National and International conferences, and is the Principal Investigator on a 3-year EU Erasmus funded grant, ‘Light4Health’, together with five other international universities to develop open-source curriculum on the effects of light on health.

NTEL

Land Not For Sale & Feedom Cost A Free

Approx 9 ft H x 15 - 20 ft L & 20.75” x 20.75”

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Port Richmond

NTEL

Land Not For Sale & Feedom Cost A Free

Approx 9 ft H x 15 - 20 ft L & 20.75” x 20.75”

"The world’s press is depressed, and a dream catches our future; the sacred are silenced, and the words are whispered loud.”

These artworks, designed and created by NTEL, were inspired by the principles of liberty, freedom, and the humanity of which; is not created equal. They represent the forgotten ones. They are painted for the ones not (self) ‘entitled’ to the same privilege as the majority, and those who have lost their land and independence at the hands of others seeking their own. Interpretations of what freedom can be and what it is not, are manifested visually. In these pictures, NTEL draws on a lot of personal experiences. The connections with the discouraged peoples throughout his life, and the oppressive circumstances surrounding, becomes a heavy influence.

Most noticeable are the bold red, black, and yellow undertones, representing the colours of the AIM (American Indian Movement). Native Americans being some of the least ‘free’ people in the world, though the colours are intended to pay respect to indigenous people globally. Many of these societies continue to struggle with freedom and inequality under the cloak of systemic suppression to this day.

The scheme further reflects the artist’s personal relationships with native culture, plus his own encounters with injustice and subjugation. In addition; the imagery NTEL has mixed in illustrative, graphic, and graffiti styles, portray some of the tools and obstacles used to take away freedoms, as well as reclaim it. You will notice our saviors are sent to sacrifice us, while we offer olive branches of peace. The world’s press is depressed, and a dreamcatches our future; the sacred are silenced, and the words are whispered loud. Hands break free from industrial bondage, yet our souls remain caged. The sun always reminds us, that bright times will shine again. Finally, the pillars collapse, making room for the stars; WE ARE THE LIBERTY exclaims the angels from afar. Stay strong and fight on. Love(d) you all.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

NTEL aka THE ABSTRACT NTELIGENT is a graffiti artist, painter, sculptor, muralist, designer and writer, born in 1984, on a military installation in a faraway land. He spent the first 2 decades of his life moving from country to country. NTEL started making artworks as a very young child, and practiced several different, traditional forms of art throughout his life. Though NTEL always struggled with expression, creativity, and originality in the face of the repetitive culture of art, and the colour-less world of the government properties he grew up on. He eventually stumbled upon graffiti and street art as a teenager, in Germany. Instantly, NTEL knew this was the artform that could set his soul free from the barbed, chain-link fences, and khaki buildings surrounding him. Since that moment over 20 Years ago, NTEL has been working to integrate graffiti and street styles with a variety of other forms of modern arts, like pop art and abstract expressionism. This visual potpourri can be seen in NTEL’s murals and designs commissioned by both private and public entities, and the numerous gallery exhibits he participates in annually. NTEL currently lives full-time on the road, while maintaining studios in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and South Dakota.

Chelsey
Luster

Defend Black Girls

42" H x 42" W

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Brewerytown

Chelsey Luster

Defend Black Girls

42" H x 42" W

“The women in my work represent the complexities caused by the intersectionality of race, gender, class, and sexuality within black womanhood.”

Through material use and symbolism, she creates iconic images of a black woman. The women in her work represent the complexities caused by the intersectionality of race, gender, class, and sexuality within black womanhood. Chelsey works from photographs of her peers, family members, or anyone that she has an emotional or physical connection with to convey her ideas about the importance of representation and empowerment of black women.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Chelsey Luster is a Philadelphia-based visual artist, curator, and art instructor from Baltimore, Maryland. Her work focuses on intimacy and vulnerability through depictions of empowered female figures in various drawing, painting, and printmaking mediums. Luster has been using bathroom scenes in her work to explore queer black womanhood with regards to lack of privacy, invasion of the black queer body, power structures, and isolation. Her work acknowledges the obstacles that burden queer black women because of the intersectionality of their gender and sexuality and depicts these concepts through the renderings of voyeuristic bathroom scenes.

Sean
Lugo

La Lucha

53" H x 80" W

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Claymont

Sean Lugo

La Lucha

53" H x 80" W

“No matter what anyone endures or the struggles that are thrown at them day in and day out, our minds have the ultimate freedom to imagine and create something beautiful.”

“I am no stranger to la lucha, “the struggle.” Creating art releases my darkness, my depression, my PTSD of beat downs and homelessness – it is my therapy. I am blessed to have this freedom of expression whether it is in the streets or on a gallery wall. The City of Brotherly Love adopted me as a Philly-based artist and has given me opportunities that have encouraged me to hone in my craft. These opportunities have given me the freedom to push the envelope with my imagery and to get my message out to the world.

No matter what anyone endures or the struggles that are thrown at them day in and day out, our minds have the ultimate freedom to imagine and create something beautiful. Just like this image of two border police officers beating an immigrant, people can keep trying to bring you down, but if your mind is right you will always be free. Use that freedom to fight back and make yourself stronger. Because freedom exists in your mind, hard times like we have gone through in recent weeks and months will make you feel less confined and more inspired.”

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Sean 9 Lugo, wheatpasting his way through urban neighborhoods. Brown boy representing the duality of both Latin and American culture and experiences through masks that can either misconceive or stereotype perceptions.
His art has a street element, but he does not consider himself a street artist. His images are meticulously done by hand, but he does not consider himself a fine artist. He is self-taught and creates art for himself, not for others. He describes his art as not fine-tuned because struggle and imperfections are the experiences echoed in his work.

Shanina
Dionna

Show Up

58" H x 72" W x 1.5" D

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Coatesville

Shanina Dionna

Show Up

58" H x 72" W x 1.5" D

“I translate Philadelphia’s Freedom through a lens of resilience, awareness, rage, strategy, surrender, inclusivity, and an elevated mind that makes room for innovative ways to support one another.”

"You tryna' go protest?" These four words shifted my art practice forever. What did the late-great Nina Simone truly mean when she said, "the responsibility of the artist is to reflect the times?" At the height of Black Lives Matter amidst a global pandemic, my cousin called to ask if I wanted to protest for our first time in Philadelphia. I remember instantly going into autopilot - not really knowing what to expect - but ready for whatever might come. "F*ck tha Police" by N.W.A., "DNA" by Kendrick Lamar and "All Falls Down" by Kanye West blared through my cousin's car as we made our way to Center City from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. I remember feeling fearless yet making sure to text our loved ones where we were for safety measures. My mother shared protest etiquette and a friend asked for my full birth date, just in case.

Show Up honors my cousin, Shakira Nicole (central in the painting) and every protestor that made it a point to stand for something that day. Deeply inspired by our predecessors from the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement to the Stonewall Uprising and Gay Liberation Movement, I translate "Philadelphia's Freedom" through a lens of resilience, awareness, rage, strategy, surrender, inclusivity and an elevated mind that makes room for innovative ways to support one another.

"Who are we if not each other?" - Yara Shahidi

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Shanina Dionna is a visual and performing artist, mental health advocate and non-profit youth arts educator based in Greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Since 2011, her Embryo art exhibition series has helped raise awareness for mental health, chronicling the life of one millennial’s growth journey. The series is supported in-part by local businesses and the wellness community.

Her art for social change practice is rooted in the exposure of her own personal battle and history with mental illnesses, diagnoses, hospitalization and therapy treatments. Life-sized acrylic portraits, improv performances, dance/movement, botanical therapy and "safe space” installations all help convey her intent for communal wellness and healing.

In 2016, Shanina Dionna helped found the youth art program, Art Buds Philly, currently housed at the Urban Art Gallery in West Philadelphia. In 2018, she became one of twenty artists worldwide to receive the first-ever TDC20 Grant also known as, The Dean Collection 20, presented by Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. In a 2020 interview with Philadelphia Magazine, she was declared the “Philly artist [who is] creating a positive space for mental health conversations.” Shanina Dionna is a current student with PCEATI (Person Centered Expressive Arts Therapy Institute) in Sonoma, California and is due to receive certification in 2021; she will facilitate expressive arts therapy sessions post-graduation.

“ Art helped save my life. I simply desire to pay that forward.”
- Shanina Dionna

Eve Hoyt

Peace Leads The Way

23" H x 19" W x 6" D

“I think freedom is found in the presence of peace.”

I think freedom is found in the presence of peace. Peace allows for love and compassion. It facilitates creativity and evolution. In the absence of peace is where we find fear. Fear is a source of turmoil and hatred. It clouds our thinking and keeps us frozen. Fear prevents us from moving forward. Without peace, we are prisoners to our fear. But freedom isn’t just about individual peace. It’s also about peace in our community, our country, and our world. I feel during this global pandemic, now more than ever, we need to come together and respond to the challenges that face our world with empathy and with peace. Peace leads the way to freedom.

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography

Eve Hoyt is a Philadelphia based artist who began bending neon in 1989. After several years working in the sign industry and looking to explore the possibilities of using neon as an art form, she set up her own studio, Evening Neon. Creating pieces that are colorful, abstract, and often whimsical, her award-winning artwork has been shown throughout the country since 2001. Hoyt is also a member of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, a group of artists using recycled and discarded items in their artwork.

William O'Hara
& Zoe Sturges

Flowers for Handcuffs

13" H x 9" W ea.

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Chinatown,
Merchantville

William O'Hara & Zoe Sturges

Flowers for Handcuffs

13" H x 9" W ea.

“I think one of the bravest things you can do when you face the threat of the violent suppression of civil liberties, is to show that we are not going to respond to their threats of violence with violence, and that they will not intimidate us.”

"While participating and documenting a BLM protest on June 6th a women crossed the line and was handing out flowers to the national guardsmen and women who were on duty that evening. After she had made it to the third line of soldiers officers of the PPD detained her and escorted her to the transportation van where they removed her from the area."

Read My Statement Close
Artist Biography
William O’Hara

In high school I had taken every art class that they would let me take while I was there. I would draw and paint and sketch and learn the history of art and different artists. Then came along photography, and the darkroom and that was very thought provoking for me. Photography was the medium that I had gravitated towards because it was the one I had related to most directly.
After high school I took a break from photography and art in general. About 2 years ago I found myself going through a rough patch in life and would find myself escaping by myself in any direction I could go and when I got there I found myself pulling out my phone, not to use it and get on social media or text but instead to take photos. A friend of mine took notice and reached out telling me that he had a canon 5D classic sitting on himself that he never used anymore. This is when I acquired my first digital camera and I have not looked back since. From that time, I had taught myself the ins and outs of the digital camera and how to operate the camera on manual settings from the beginning to be able to have the most control over the final image. This is also the same for my editing style where I had self-taught myself how to use software like Lightroom, by going into the software and seeing what adjustments did and how they all interacted with each other.
After being self-taught for two years I had decided to attend Southern New Hampshire University online course for my Associates in Digital Photography. The reason for this choice was to obtain a degree for corporations in instances where the opportunity required a degree, or where a degree would be helpful in setting me apart. During this time, I had then made the choice to move from Indianapolis, Indiana to the Philadelphia area and become a self-employed freelance photographer and this is when Frame of Reference Photography was created and established in Philadelphia, 2019.
I have since been in the Philadelphia area for just over a year now building my business. I have been fortunate enough to make connections with the Philadelphia Fashion Week team and musical artists of all genres. Recently I have had a focus on portrait and creative portrait photography based on off of inspirations for the fashion-world. Along with the fashion and music, street photography has played a large part in my photography career. Street photography allows for the stories of the average person to be captured and told as well as the stories of the city. Each city has a personality and a pulse and that comes from the people who live there. Being able to capture emotion and stories is the purpose of photography and the reason that I am pulled into the medium to begin with. Everyone has a story to tell and I go out and capture these moments to tell their stories.

Zoe Sturges

Zoe Sturges is a kindergarten teacher at Mastery Clymer located in North Philadelphia, and a two-time graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
As a substitute teacher, two of her fourth-grade students were arrested. Additionally, as a kindergarten teacher after one of her young students had prank called 911 officers arrived at the school to attempt to handcuff the six-year-old boy. These first-hand accounts of police brutality and unlawful punishment along with the tragic death of George Floyd inspired her to become involved in this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in Philadelphia. Ms. Sturges hopes to call attention to the on-going issue of unjust arrest and abuse of power toward youth, especially her youth community of elementary school children with her district.

Reserve Your Ticket!

The Philly’s Freedom exhibit is open to visitors October 16 through February 13, 2021 and features the work of over 50+ Philadelphians in addition to the featured works above. In accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the National Liberty Museum will be open for limited capacity only. Please note, you must reserve your 'Timed Tickets,' to enjoy the Museum's temporary and permanent exhibitions. We look forward to seeing you and your loved ones in the near future.

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Resources for Artists

Are you an artist?The National Liberty Museum has pulled together a curated list of resources that benefit not only our city of Brotherly and Sisterly love, but the artists and cultural institutions across the globe.

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