Belated Totals from Manifest 2011

Approximately 120 participants commemorated Iraqi Widows with 13,989 lines drawn in grids, pictures and messages on a chalkboard, two large panels and the asphalt at Manifest 2011.

Widowsweave at Maninfest

Artistactivist Presents: Widowsweave will be present at Manifest
May 13th Noon-7 900 South Wabash - Outside
Add your mark - Draw chalk lines for Iraq's widows - on chalk boards and on the pavement.
Join Kevin in this Widowsweave event.

Sunday's Fundraiser

Had a great 1st fundraiser on Sunday, raising almost $500 towards Artistactivist and Widowsweave project.  Will be planning more Widowsweave events soon.  Thanks to all who participated, donated or otherwise helped out.  Special thanks to Colleen and Justin at Work Studio in Chicago for donating the space, and Ramah Jihan for a beautiful set of music.

Artistactivist Fundraiser

 

All are welcome at Artistactivist fundraiser this Sunday.

Fundraiser Set

Artisactivist, Valentine's not-for-profit will be holing its first Fundraiser at Work Studio in Chicago on April 3rd.  Please come and support the artist's efforts to raise awareness of the conditions of Iraqi widows.

Time Expands

I'm up at nights thinking of how slow I've been at getting Widowsweave  into galleries and spaces.  Is it life or disorganization, timidity or timing?  I've had a couple of apps and grants not quite get accepted, but there is a haze on the whole project which I have to clear away.  I have to buckle down and find the time and space to make real progress, only without depleting our resources.  Until I receive a grant or find employment, I have to stay on the cheap.  There is still much I can do.

Lines in the Sand: 20th Anniversary of Gulf War on MLK Day

Alyssa and I went out on North Montrose Beach in the freezing rain as drew 2000 lines in the sand for the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War.  After a year and a half of performances, and such a long gap since my last performance, I found that I was thinking more about the project and its efficacy as activism and art than about the widows themselves.  I think that I need to keep with my vision of engaging community in this project or it will become just a counting exercise.

2000 lines

 Ice formations

 January 17th Commemoration

 Lines in sand-on-snow-on-sand

 Like sentinals

Artistactivist Fundraiser

Artistactivist will have it's first fundraiser on January 30, 2011. I will perform/display some of my Widowsweave works.  Check back for details.

Low Estimate was exhibited at the Iraq History Project Arts Festival at Depaul University in Chicago.  This panel consists of over 118,000 circles painted to represent the United Nations low estimate of 500,000 child deaths related to sanctions against Iraq.  The remaining memorial circles will be painted on additional panels.  This panel could not accommodate all 500,000 due to drying time of the acrylic paint and date of the exhibit.  There are 15-20 or more layers of tightly overlapped circles and spirals on this panel covering evidence of earlier circles, patterns and designs.  We cannot see all 118,000 simultaneously. Their inscription is obliterated by new layers,  creating a thick mottled textured panel of irregular thickness in an oily gloss.
The festival included a panel discussion on activist art, and one which included two attorneys for Guantanamo detainees. Earlier in the week, I joined two other artists in a panel discussion discussing our work related to Iraq.  There were a total of 17 artists involved in the Art Festival, all responding to the Iraq History Project's archive of testimony by perpetrators, victims and witnesses of torture in Iraq from 1968-2008.
I chose to respond to Law Law's story which involved her recording names and deaths at her family home, as they helped bury children who died around the time of the Anfal campaign in the late eighties.  When still a school girl, she was able to orchestrate the reuniting of a father and son who were able to escape the country.  This was before the sanctions, or around the time the sanctions began.  My piece continues her work of documenting the deaths of children with a series of memorial paintings.
(The UN high estimate is 1.2 million)

Iraqi History Project

http://columbiachronicle.com/artists-activists-unite-for-human-rights
Article in Columbia Chronicle on upcoming Iraqi History Project festival in which Kevin Valentine is participating.

Weisman Award Show

 

Weisman Award Show including three panels from the Widowsweave exhibit is up at 618 S Michigan through mid October.

The Other Side of the Atlantic

Yesterday I remembered Iraqi widows and their situation from the other side of the Atlantic off the Devon coast of Southwest England at the quay at Hartland Point.  This trip has been a restful, thoughtful one of nature walks and climbs.  Upon return I will continue work on my Widowsweave.

Farsi Poem from the West Wall of Widowsweave Exhibit

In this dark

I am thinking of a lightly lamb

to graze the grass of my loneliness.

 

In this dark

I see my arms beneath the original rain

that fell on the first prayers of men.

 

In this dark

I opened a door to the ancient lanes

To the golden image of mythical caves.

 

In this dark

I saw the roots.

 

And for the growing pot of death

I explained the fluid scent of water and earth.

 

By Sohrab Sepehri

Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani

 

The poem Az Sabz beh Sabz  was first published in the anthology Hajm-e Sabz (The Green Shape)  1967, Tehran.

Events this Friday and Saturday

Panel discussion today: Women Artists in Muslim Society

5:15-6:45

1104 S Wabash 2nd Floor

Tomorrow May 1st Performances:
3:30-5:00

Exhibit Photos

Widowsweave Exhibit changes daily with many contributors.

Widowsweave: 3 Million Lines Opens Friday

Widowsweave: 3 Million Lines Opens Friday.  Here are some photos of the first lines in preparation for the exhibit:

Widowsweave Schedule

Raw Space
1104 S. Wabash Ave
2nd Floor

Mon-Fri 10am-6pm   Sat 12pm-5pm
April 23-May 14

Opening Reception:
Friday, April 23   5-7pm


Mission Accomplished
7th Anniversary

Schedule:
April 30th 5:15-6:45
Panel Discussion:
Women Artists in Muslim Society
Morehshin Allahyari, Hale Ekinci, Rabbya Naseer, Renee Tadros
Intoduction: Melissa Potter

May 1st
3:30 Ande Welling of Core Project-
Dance Response
3:45 Peace to Iraq
Ceremonial Response
4:00 Jaber Alturfee - Human Rights Worker
Spoken Response (in Arabic & English)
4:30 Water for Widows
Symbolic Response

Future Work

Ideas for future work include:

Low Estimate and High Estimate paintings, with circles, based on Iraqi children lost do to sanctions.
Iraq and Afghanistan paintings with widow written out x number of times.
 9/11 with widow, childless, fatherless & motherless written.

Widowsweave Exhibit Postcard

Widowsweave Exhibit

Widowsweave Exhibit Opening Performances

April 23rd

5-7pm

1104 S. Wabash, Chicago

2nd Floor Raw Space

Come draw lines to benefit Iraqi Widows through May 14th

Get involved now

Panel Discussion: Women Artists and Muslim Society

April 30th -6:30-8

Open 10-5 through May 14th - Performances most days - Participate anytime

May 14th Manifest closing performances

More to come!