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by Mark Jenkins
The abundant gold and turquoise of Samar Hussaini’s mixed-media paintings suggest earth and minerals. But the New Jersey artist is primarily inspired by the thob (or thwawb), the traditional Arab tunic whose embroidery denotes its regional origins. “Resilient,” the title of Hussaini’s Gallery Al Quds show, includes two stand-alone versions of a thob, as well as pictures that incorporate its design motifs.
In most news accounts, refugees are just cold numbers calculated in the thousands or millions, not real people with faces, names and life stories ripped asunder by war.The faces of refugees are emerging from the statistics through the work of artists in the D.C. area and across the world who are protesting injustice on numerous fronts, ranging from the many controversies triggered by the Trump administration to human rights abuses by totalitarian regimes.
A screening of three short films from The Freedom Theater is presented by Felice Gelman and followed by the Skyped in presence of Mohamed Haj Ibrahim. Journey of a Freedom Fighter is the story of one armed fighter who chose resistance through art. Maybe presents a young woman film student who fights for her right to pursue her dream and finds her inspiration in another who breaks with convention in a different field. The Racer tells the story of a Palestinian stock car racer who wins against the odds of occupation.
Artists reacted to the catastrophe of 1948 with paintings, graphics and sculptures incorporating memories of place and distance from homeland as a central theme. Artists of the “Nakba Generation” include the doyen Ismail Shammout, Abdul Hay Mosallam Zarara, Naji Al–Ali, Sophie Halaby, Kamal Bullata, and Samia Halabi, the latter two still working today. Next generation … Read more
By Palestine Center Interns
Dorit Naaman, film and media professor at Queen’s University, directed and produced an interactive documentary called, “Jerusalem, We Are Here”. The purpose of this project is to restore the lost or stolen homes, mainly in Jerusalem, of pre-1948 Palestine, if not physically then through the communicative power of art and new media. Until this day, houses are being demolished in Palestine adding another facet to the fact that the Nakba never ended. Acknowledging the existence of Palestinian homes, as this project does, is a form of resistance against cultural erasure. This interview highlights the importance of recognizing the past in Palestine, how it lives in the reality of our present, and challenges our future.
“IARS Women’s Invitational Exhibition 2017” at the Eiseman Center of Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations. This Women’s Invitational features the work of 10 minority women artists, all first generation Americans. The works reflect these women’s strong bonds to their heritage and to their experiences living in the US, with unique techniques, narratives, and viewpoints.
This panel conversation exploring the power of the arts to foster understanding and build empathy was held in coordination with the Gallery Al-Quds exhibition THEY HAVE NAMES and the Goethe Institute’s exhibition FORTY OUT OF ONE MILLION. Panelists included Rashwan Abdelbaki, Syrian visual artist, awarded a 2016 IIE – Artist Protection Fund Fellowship, Elif M. Gokcigdem, Historian of Islamic Art , scholar and editor, Fostering Empathy Through Museums (Rowman-2016), Dagmar Painter (moderator), Curator, The Jerusalem Fund-Gallery Al-Qud, Daniel Sonnentag, Berlin-based photographer and videographer, Kai Wiedenhöfer, Berlin-based photographer, and Helen Zughaib, Washington, D.C.-based visual artist.
Berlin-based photographers Daniel Sonnentag and Kai Wiedenhöfer portray the human impact of the Syrian conflict. Their works, which approach the subject from different points of view, were exhibited at Gallery Al-Quds and the Goethe-Institut as a way to highlight this urgent humanitarian crisis.
Gallery Al-Quds, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and the Middle East Institute’s Arts and Culture Program, presents, An Arts Program on the Human Impact of the Syrian Conflict.
Through educational events, humanitarian support, and cultural preservation, the Jerusalem Fund is helping build the movement for Palestinian liberation.
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