Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

From February 3 to March 3, IARP hosted an art exhibit with Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, Not About Bombs, featuring 5 contemporary Iraqi female artists. The exhibit explored what Iraqi women are feeling and thinking after the “end” of the US-led war, in the midst of its aftermath and the Arab Spring.

Thank you to everyone who helped us reach and exceed our Kickstarter goal. Sixty-five supporters helped us raise $5,055 to bring Iraqi women artists Sundus Abdul Hadi, Tamara Abdul Hadi, and Dena Al-Adeeb to Minneapolis for artists’ talks, video interviews, and collaboration. Watch for video footage from the March 2 Artists’ Talk soon.

The three artists participated in a series of events in Minneapolis from March 2-4:

• An Artist Talk and Reception on Friday, March 2, at Intermedia Arts.
• A session at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at 10:45 am on March 3 with Minneapolis artists Susanne Slavick and Camille Gage, “Illustrating the Cost of War: Artists Respond to a Decade of Conflict.”
• Video interviews, to be produced and released by IARP.
• A brainstorming session with each other and IARP curator Tricia Khutoretsky about collaboration.

NOT ABOUT BOMBS was about challenging assumptions about Iraqi and Arab women and hearing (and recording) a perspective on the Iraq War and Iraq that is too rarely heard. One attendee said the exhibit, “Made me really think about the ways Iraqi women have been pigeon-holed in our societal understanding of them.”

Thank you to all exhibit sponsors and co-sponsors!

Sponsors: Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Human Rights Program of the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Women’s Press, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Saffron Restaurant and Lounge.

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.

"Still/Chaos" by Sama Alshaibi and Dena Al-Adeeb was one of the defining images of NOT ABOUT BOMBS. The exhibit featured contemporary works from female Iraqi artists and ran February 3 - March 3, 2012.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped us reach and exceed our Kickstarter goal! Sixty-five donors helped us raise $5,055 to support barrier-breaking dialogue and amplify the voices of Iraqi women artists Sundus Abdul Hadi, Tamara Abdul Hadi, and Dena Al-Adeeb.

The three artists participated in a series of events in Minneapolis from March 2-4:

• An Artist Talk and Reception at 7:00 pm on Friday, March 2, at Intermedia Arts. The community will be able to meet the artists; ask questions; and get honest, real, female, Iraqi perspectives from the artists. The event will be recorded and made available online.
• A session at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at 10:45 am on March 3 with Minneapolis artists Susanne Slavick and Camille Gage, “Illustrating the Cost of War: Artists Respond to a Decade of Conflict.”
• Video interviews with the artists on March 3, to be produced and later released by IARP.
• A brainstorming session on March 3 with each other and IARP curator Tricia Khutoretsky about collaboration.

More info on these events and video footage to be released soon.

At base, NOT ABOUT BOMBS is about challenging assumptions about Iraqi and Arab women and hearing (and recording) a perspective on the Iraq War and Iraq that is too rarely heard. Thank you to everyone who supported the project and made it happen!

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):

Q. Do you think our identities depend on our origins?

S.A. Identity is as deep as our roots, and as wide as our reach. In today’s age of displacement and uprootedness, I definitely see myself reaching towards my roots in order to find the grounding we all seek. However, our identities are made up of so many layers, past, present and future, and do not depend solely on where our ancestors graves may lay. Our experiences make up so much of who we become, and our uprootedness is just as much a part of our identity as our roots are.

Q. Why is it that female Iraqi artists like yourself who perhaps have left Iraq are still consumed with Iraq as a subject matter?

S.A. Iraq has an extremely rich heritage, visual histories, endless stories, and major political events that have rippled through the region and globally. All these factors make up a very loaded reference point for cultural producers that are directly related to the land and affected by its events. For many years, I couldn’t imagine making artwork about anything other than Iraq. I was so driven to communicate the injustices that were happening to my country while much of the world cast a blind eye to an illegal war. As my artwork developed, I grew to understand that it was not so much Iraq that motivated my work, but injustice against any people… Choosing to create a different visual narrative associated to Iraq in contrast to what is readily available in the mainstream media is also a way to educate the viewer and to reclaim, re-imagine and redefine those one-dimensional images.

Q. On a basic level, what do you hope that your artwork/photographs will express to the viewer?

S.A. Cultural production is a very significant part of history, and as artists, we have the tools to record our own histories, on the margins of a controlled mainstream. I believe that creative and artistic expression should always strive to facilitate discussion about important issues that affect the people. In my case, being an Iraqi-Canadian, I strive to speak to both an Eastern and Western audience about the human experiences of living during this specific time in history. With the Flightseries in particular, I’m striving to leave the viewer with a sense of hope in light of all the events that have been unfolding in Iraq and the region.

Q. What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing Iraqis…. particularly Iraqi women right now?

S.A. There are many challenges facing Iraqis as a result of the illegal US-led war that started in 2003, the ensuing US military occupation, and now the ongoing US influence in the region. The consequences of those events will continue to unfold for decades on. One of the major challenges is the issue of displacement, both internally and outside of the country. On a social and economic level, there are many obstacles and difficulties that are being faced by women, men and the youth. Unemployment, rising illiteracy rates, instability, post-traumatic stress, and more. Its impossible to lay forth all the intense challenges and struggles faced by the Iraqi woman today. However, despite the difficulties, I speak from the perspective of an Iraqi woman who comes from a long line of strong Iraqi women who have survived and persevered throughout every circumstance that life, land and longing has thrown at them.

Please consider backing this project here on Kickstarter and sharing it with your friends to make it possible for us to bring Sundus, Tamara Abdul Hadi, and Dena Al-Adeeb to Minneapolis for artist talks and collaboration. Thanks,

Luke Wilcox, Development and Communications Director
Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

IARP’s Luke Wilcox recently returned from Iraq, where he was hosted by Muslim Peacemaker Teams Director Sami Rasouli. The Huffington Post recently published an article by the two of them here. Wilcox also wrote a blog about his trip here.

The Star Tribune published a story about his trip and IARP’s Water for Peace program here.