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.

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.

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.

Manifest 11-9 Friday, May 14th

Manifest 11-9 Friday, May 14th

1104 S Wabash 2nd Floor

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

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!

Spring Events

Watch for upcoming information on Eyes Wide Open event on the 13th and 14th of April.

Also Widowsweave thesis exhibit will be taking place from April 23-May 14th.  check back for event schedule.

Water for Widows

# 22 & 23: Another proposal would be Water for Widows, covering the entire surface of the granite slab with glasses of clean water - or just one glass in the center.

Black Rain

Jaber Alturfee found my Black Rain video, which is on youtube at Bodyrewired.  He said that it was very moving and sad, reminding him of the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when the US and Iraqi troops were kicking up so much dust and there was a sandstorm that left black soot all over the city for two weeks.  He wasn't sure what the Black was from, the bombing, the oil and other contamination or what, but that the whole city was black until the next rain, maybe two weeks later.  He showed the video to his whole family.

Thesis Colaboration Idea

Kelly suggested that I have a sort of raise-money-for-charity pledge system as one of my events in the installation, where people pledge a cent per line or so, and collected pledges are brought in and a certain number of lines are drawn (1000 = $10)

Thesis Critique

Critiques went well, very smoothly.  I showed video of chalk and sand pieces, talked about the why, the how etc...  I talked about the project and the exhibit.  I asked some logistical questions about the installation.  We also had a debate about how to raise the money for the widows - should I start a 501(c)3 or look for Fiscal Sponsorship?

10/17: Ahlam Ahmed Mahmoud al Al-Jabouri and Beth Ann Toupin

Ahlam Ahmed Mahmoud al Al-Jabouri and Beth Ann Toupin, co-founders of the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society Chicago, were at Jeremy Deller's It is what it is exhibit talking about Iraq, refugees going first to Syria then to Chicago.  We talked about their work helping settle refugees who know little of our culture, even if they know the language, which about half do by their estimates.  They said that most of our culture they pick up from prime-time TV, so when Ahlam's relatives knew she was in Chicago, they asked if there are a lot of gangs around.

They both explained that when they arrive in Syria, where most of the refugees are because their border remains open to refugees headed to the UN camps, they put their names on the list and about a quarter of them get resettled, with many coming to Chicago, settling in Rodgers Park and Edgewater.  They get one month's rent, a bed (cot) per person, a blanket, a fork, a knife, a plate and a piece of furniture for the living room (can be a plastic chair).  They get a little money, much of which goes to rent deposit and some overhead for the agency that settles them and buys the items.  The Iraqi Mutual Aid Society tries to cook them a meal when they first arrive, and get them donated items they might need like winter coats or sofas etc....

They estimated that 17,000 refugees arrive per year, and about 1400 arrive in Chicago.  There are 2,000,000 refugees in Syria.  As of yet, their group has no funding, just volunteers, and a donated space to store furniture and clothes.   Ahlam said that in Rodgers Park and Edgewater there are about 5 or 6 Iraqi families in a single block.  Beth said that adapting to the culture is challenging.  One of the first things they tell them is not to bribe the police.  If you get stopped for a traffic violation in Iraq, the first thing you do is reach for your wallet, so the police know that you will pay them.  Not such a good idea in Chicago.  But Ahlam said that the police have really helped her twice already.  The first night she was here, she went out to get an item at the store, and couldn't find her way home.  She flagged down a cop who drove her around the neighborhood till she recognized where she was at.

Beth talked about how educated refugees sometimes find it harder to adjust because they might have had a great profession in Iraq, and working sweeping floors for $7 dollars an hour is such a shock to a skilled doctor or architect, for instance.

We also talked about life in Iraq.  In the exhibit their is an actual car, mangled from a car bomb and burnt and rusty.  There are also photos of an historic street market where people come to sell books that they may have read, and to buy books they have not read yet.  There is a before picture, a bombed picture - where one cannot tell that it is even a street - and a new picture of it rebuilt.  Ahlam said that you have no idea when you are told that there was a car bomb, what scale that means.  These things are extremely destructive.  Twice, she told us, she was a block or more away.  First thing is that you cannot hear, and your ears start to bleed.  Then you can't smell or breath from your nose for the smoke.  Then your head hurts like a migraine due to the concussive power of the bomb.

We talked about charities in Iraq and the widows.  Only the small charities and NGO's are left, ones that don't need insurance.  Even Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have pulled out.
The challenge is even more acute in the countryside.  Women there are stuck with their relatives and there is no aid or charity working in those areas.

Second meeting with Mel P.

We talked about the threshold between rooms.   Mel recommended Terance Koh's work (a Whitney installation) Brimming from a Ray of Light for its lighting design.  Mel was mainly concerned with the design of the first room which takes up most of the space, but says less than it might.

She rightly advised me to activate the imagery in the doorway.  It will be extremely important as it is the threshold between the two rooms - the two states of mind.  What should its shape/size/texture reference?

Mel suggests that the doorway, if not an arch referring to Islamic architecture, be a direct reference to tombs.  Should there be one, or three openings the size of caskets?

Meeting with Doug Stapleton

I met with Doug S. at the State of Illinois Gallery about my thesis show.

He also saw that it is an architectural environment. that I am trying to create a passage to a liminal space: that the chalk room is referential to the Kabaa in Mecca: that the intention is transformative in nature - moving from death to life, accounting for the deaths, and tallying the living.

We talked about the cleansing fountain idea as a metaphor - not as an actual fountain. What can I use to symbolize the cleansing?

We talked about the use of an invitation to go home and make 3 million lines to commemorate the widows.  A take away if you will.

We discussed the duality.

He questioned weather it was a type of momento mori

Meeting with Cliff M.

Met with Cliff on Tuesday Oct. 6th.  He referenced a number of architectural sites, both historical and contemporary.  The Temple at Karnak in Egypt, and the Jewish Museum in Berlin by Libeskind in particular.  We talked about the ceremonial aspect, the transformative aspect of the architecture, the structure of the pillars referencing a processional.

We also talked about the Monument Against Fascism by Jochen Gerz, a column that lowers into the ground and disappears as its surface gets the signatures of witnesses to the monument.

I need to pay more attention to the reasons for creating the space.  I know that I want it not to be a blatant referance to a mosque, an Iraqi graveyard or a Western funeral parlor.  It needs to be a metaphoric space which creates a transformation from the gloom and sadness of the entryway of rememberance (of the dead) to the affimative, healing, comfort of the memorial to the Widows who have survived.  That is the point of the two rooms - it's not just the aesthetic, but the spiritual passage from grief to hope that I wish to capture in the final installation and performance.

 

Too Much to Process

Lots of ideas and avenues this week, but no time to blog yet - maybe this weekend.  After meeting with Paul Catanese again this Tuesday and continuing research, I have come to the conclusion that I need a Iwan (vaulted entry), a Musalla or Prayer Room (the chalking room) and  a Sahn or courtyard (with fountain?) to symbolize mosque architecture.  Hopefully a Mihrab (niche) indication the direction of Kaaba as well?