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After a few days, we’re making progress toward the $4,000 we need to bring three amazing Iraqi women artists to Minneapolis. We’ve had 16 donors pledge $640 so far.
All of the artists in NOT ABOUT BOMBS participated in short interviews with the curator, Tricia Khutoretsky, before the show opened on February 3, 2012. Since Sundus Abdul Hadi is one of the participating artists we’re hoping to bring to Minneapolis, I’m copying her interview here (below an image of hers from her Flight series):
In early 2011, we didn’t know what a Kickstarter campaign was. But we needed to raise $5,000 to make a Minnesota tour of our Iraqi and American art campaign, Navigating the Aftermath, possible, so we decided to try it. We were amazed by the response. Sixty-three donors helped us raise $5,200 through Kickstarter in just a few weeks. That Kickstarter project can be seen here, and a post about the final report here. If you are one of those donors, thank you for making a very rich experience possible for Minnesotans across the state. We are currently in a strategic planning process to determine how to build on the very positive response we received during the tour’s seven Minnesota stops.
Images: various from the “Navigating the Aftermath” tour around Minnesota.
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) is also pleased to announce plans to bring three amazing Iraqi women artists from our new exhibit, Not About Bombs, to Minneapolis on March 2-4 for public artist talks and collaboration, but we need your help! We must raise $4,000 by March 1 to bring Sundus Abdul Hadi, Tamara Abdul Hadi, and Dena Al-Adeeb to Minneapolis. Will we be able to reach $4,000 by March 1? Please consider backing the project on Kickstarter and supporting Iraqi women artists! Every contribution is important to make it to $4,000.
Help bring Not About Bombs artists to Minneapolis for Artists’ Talks and Collaboration!
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) is pleased to announce plans to bring 3 of the 5 featured artists–Dena Al-Adeeb, Sundus Abdul Hadi and Tamara Abdul Hadi–to Minneapolis for a series of dialogues and collaboration, but we need your help!
We must raise $4,000 by March 1 to bring the three artists to Minneapolis for:
Funds raised will cover the cost of the three artists’ plane tickets, hotel, transportation, and meals, as well as the cost of the Artist Talk / Closing Reception and video interviews. Please consider backing this project, every donation helps bring us closer to $4,000! By making a pledge, you’ll support Iraqi women artists, as well as unique, collaborative dialogues in Minneapolis. You’ll also get some cool stuff, like a limited-edition, signed exhibit poster; a NOT ABOUT BOMBS flip camera; or dinner with the artists.
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BEFORE THE SHOW: SET-UP AT THE OPENING
THE ARTISTS WE WANT TO BRING TO MINNEAPOLIS
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PLEDGE $10 OR MORE
A limited-edition “Not About Bombs” sticker. PLEDGE $25 OR MORE A limited-edition, 12×18” exhibit poster, signed by at least one featured artist. PLEDGE $50 OR MORE A “Not About Bombs” sticker, plus your choice of a “Make Art Not War” t-shirt or a “Navigating the Aftermath” t-shirt. PLEDGE $100 OR MORE A poster, sticker, and a limited edition, high-quality print of the exhibit booklet, signed by at least one featured artist. PLEDGE $250 OR MORE Limited reward, 5 of 5 available A poster, sticker, exhibit booklet, and dinner with the three featured Iraqi artists (Dena Al-Adeeb, Sundus Abdul Hadi and Tamara Abdul Hadi) on Saturday night, March 3. PLEDGE $500 OR MORE Limited reward, 3 of 3 available A poster, sticker, exhibit booklet, dinner with the artists on March 3, and an exclusive “Not About Bombs” Mino HD Flip Video Camera. PLEDGE $1000 OR MORE Limited reward, 1 of 1 available A poster, sticker, exhibit booklet, “Not About Bombs” Mino HD Flip Video Camera, and private lunch on March 4 with you, the three featured Iraqi artists (Dena Al-Adeeb, Sundus Abdul Hadi and Tamara Abdul Hadi), and curator Tricia Khutoretsky.
 ___________________________________________________________ What is Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects. We believe that: · A good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide. · A large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement. Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands. |
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Presented by:
  Exhibit Sponsors:
This activity is funded, in part, by appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund, and its arts and cultural heritage fund that was created by a vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Co-Sponsors:
CAPI, STAND-UMN, WAMM, Veterans for Peace Minnesota Chapter 27, Women’s Art Institute of St. Catherine University, Minnesota International Center, Metro Blooms, World Relief Minnesota, Pax Christi Twin Cities Area, Echo Valley Farm, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Development, Faith Mennonite Church, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Women’s Art Institute, St. Catherine University, St Paul, MN; Pax Christi Twin Cities Area; Twin Cities Peace Campaign
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) creates bridges of communication, understanding and support between Americans and Iraqis that lead to tangible acts for rebuilding a country devastated by years of war, blockades, and more war. IARP realizes its mission and vision through four program areas: Arts, Sister City cultural exchanges, Water for Peace, and support for the partner agency in Iraq, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT). IARP uses visual arts to share the cultures and ideas of the peoples of Iraq and America – especially residents of the Sister Cities of Najaf, Iraq (where MPT is based) and Minneapolis (where IARP is based). |
From NYU’s Center from Global Affairs, an article written by Iraqi professor Dr. Abdullah Ali Abbou outlines the ways in which national reconciliation in Iraq can foster peace-building.
Summary: Reconciliation, he argues, is necessary in rebuilding individual communities, rectifying human rights violations, bringing justice to the victims and making sure that democracy has legal foundations.
Applying the mechanisms of transitional justice was difficult after the establishment of a new, sovereign Iraqi government because sectarian issues came to a head in Iraqi society after 2003. National and religious values and politics created schisms which impeded democratic transitions.
The Helsinki Agreement of 2007 provides a guide for Iraq to work toward national reconciliation, which will in turn lead to the reconstruction of Iraq, both politically and socially.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Najaf city employee Hiba Qader in Minneapolis, October, 2011
In 2009, Minneapolis residents worked with the city council to approve a “Sister City” relationship with Najaf, Iraq. A sister city relationship is about building peaceful relationships between the people of two cities. President Eisenhower launched the idea in 1956, when he called for exchanges between Americans and people of other nations.
Since 2009, Minneapolis residents have hosted seven delegations from Najaf for professional training and friendship-building, sent unarmed individuals (“citizen diplomats”) to Najaf, and helped provide clean water to tens of thousands of students and hospital patients in the Najaf area. Projects and partnerships have developed between academics, businesspeople, artists, and others in the two cities.
This February, six Iraq Ministry of Culture staff persons from Najaf will visit Minneapolis for training on event and festival management, coordinated by Meet Minneapolis: Official Convention + Visitors Bureau. Invited by the Governor of Najaf Province, a large delegation from Minneapolis plans to travel to Najaf in 2012.
As a staff member of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP), the Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization that manages the sister city relationship, I had the opportunity to travel unarmed to Najaf last summer, carrying with me a letter of friendship from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to the people of Najaf and the governor of Najaf Province. Hosted by Sami Rasouli, the Iraqi-American director of IARP’s partner organization in Najaf, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), I helped teach English classes and visited local families for five weeks.
My thoughts after returning to Minneapolis were similar to those of a Najafi physician after he participated in a medical delegation to Minneapolis: “I am so honored to gain your friendship. Meeting with you made a great difference in my life and thoughts. Thanks for all that you did for me. Hope to see you soon.”
These are small-scale efforts, but they offer an alternative to the narrative of American domination and superiority often present in our country’s foreign policy. In fact, it is in part because they are small-scale that “city” and “citizen” diplomacy can see past the rhetoric and positioning of nation-based international relations. Our country and our foreign policy need the occasional, or frequent, reality check that we are dealing with people and not ambiguous entities called, “nations.”
The relationship between America and Iraq (and America and the world) depends not only on our nation’s actions, but also on the actions of our nation’s communities. The Minneapolis-Najaf sister city relationship is a model of alternative diplomacy–with a peace-building impact that would make President Eisenhower proud.
Luke Wilcox is a staffperson of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. He can be reached at luke (at) reconciliationproject.org.
