One of the most prominent themes explored by Arab American and U.S based Arab artists over the last seventy-five years has been the process of migration and the state of in-betweenness that often results. Beginning with the work of Kahlil Gibran, a member of the earliest known Arab American creative community, the exhibition explores how artists have used concepts like third spaces, community building, hybridity, and memory formation in works that allude to the complexities of migration, including invisibility, alienation, intergenerational trauma, and changing identities.
Curator: Maymanah Farhat
Featured artists: Etel Adnan, Sama Alshaibi, Zeina Barakeh, Kamal Boullata, Huguette Caland, Yasmine Nasser Diaz, Dahlia Elsayed, Kahlil Gibran, Sherin Guirguis, Helen Khal, John Halaka, Jackie Milad, Mohammed Omar Khalil, Zeinab Saab, Jacqueline Reem Salloum, Nazar Yahya, and Helen Zughaib.
September 10 – November 17, 2021
Monday–Friday: 10am–5pm (ET)
Middle East Institute, Center for Arts & Culture, 1763 N St. NW, Washington D.C. 20036
Holy Land – Limitations on the Power of the Occupying Power (detail); archival inkjet print; 24 x 50 inches.
Holy Land – Prohibited Weapons (detail); archival inkjet print; 24 x 50 inches.
Holy Land – Levée en Masse (detail); archival inkjet print; 24 x 50 inches.
