03 March 2008
New Encyclopedia Celebrates Arab-American Artists
Painters, sculptors, photographers profiled by California artist
Washington -- Fayeq Oweis, noted artist and professor of Arabic language and culture at Santa Clara University in California, has published a unique volume entitled Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists, which highlights 85 individuals and groups working in painting, sculpture, photography, film, cartooning, calligraphy, mixed media, architecture and theater design.
In his introduction, Oweis writes, "The profiles in this book are not just biographical; they also highlight the many issues that influenced, inspired, and informed the artists' work. These include politics, language, culture, identity, economics ... and provide a portal into the rich culture of the Arab world."
DIVERSITY AND IDENTITY
One of the encyclopedia's themes is the diversity of artists and their works, which makes categorizations such as "Middle Eastern" or "Arab" art inadequate. The individual artists trace their heritage to 22 Arab countries -- whether first-, second- or third-generation -- and many identify themselves as Lebanese, Egyptian or Palestinian Americans as much as Arab Americans.
They also reflect the diversity of the Arab world itself, whether by faith, or as members of non-Arab ethnic groups like Chaldeans, Assyrians, Kurds, Berbers and Armenians, who nevertheless identify with Arab culture.
Within this diversity, however, many of the artists are connected by common themes and concerns, according to Oweis. One of those concerns is identity in what Oweis calls the "the Arab Diaspora." As with immigrants from other parts of the world, the Arab-American artists profiled in the encyclopedia wrestle with the problem of belonging to two cultures simultaneously.
He quotes the words of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: "I am from there, I am from here."
Oweis also cites the well-known statement of the late Palestinian-American scholar and writer Edward Said: "Modern Western culture is in large part the work of exiles, émigrés, refugees."
Inevitably, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict looms large in the works of many, as do conflicts in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere. "Arab-American artists also explore social justice issues, including immigration ... freedom of expression, human rights, women's issues, racism, and discrimination," Oweis writes.
ARTISTS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN
The Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists profiles individuals both familiar and obscure in the United State and elsewhere. Among the famous is Sam Maloof, a furniture designer, whose distinctive woodworking and signature rocking chairs won him a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, known informally as the "Genius Award." (See: "Wood Craftsman Sam Maloof Still 'Loving It' at 91.")
Painter and muralist Sari Khoury (1941-1997), who was born in Jerusalem and emigrated to the United States as a teenager, is the subject of a major exhibition at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, through April.
But others, many of whom are women, are relatively unknown to wider audiences and often work in unconventional media.
Katherine Toukhy, born in Rhode Island, is a painter and performance artist who sees her work as dealing with her identity as both a woman and a first-generation Egyptian American. In works such as life-size "shadow portraits," she has written: "There is a dense net of memories that has formed in my mind as a result of the impressions Egypt has made on me. All of these are filtered into my work somehow: the light and colors of the desert, the sounds of Arabic and Coptic, an incredible tension between tradition and change."
Hend al-Mansour, born in Saudi Arabia, became a medial doctor before moving to the United States to become an artist. She describes her work as "enclosed spaces that symbolize women's private dreams and desires." Sama Alshaibi, of Palestinian and Iraqi heritage, has used photo montages that stress "the intersections of her Iraqi/Palestinian, Arab/American, and Islamic/Christian cultures," Oweis writes.
The Encyclopedia features several experimental artistic organizations as well, including the House of Lebanon Artists Group, based in Los Angeles, and Other: Arab Artists Collective -- Detroit.
FAYEQ OWEIS
Oweis is an artist in his own right. In addition to teaching at Santa Clara University in California's Silicon Valley, he is a calligrapher and designer. He is an authority on Arabic calligraphy as an art form and the author of Pocket Guide to Arabic Script, published in 2005.
He designed striking calligraphy that decorates the entryway and dome of the National Arab American Museum. (See: "Arab American Museum Showcases Arab Achievements.")
Oweis also has collaborated with other artists on wall murals in San Francisco that celebrate Arab life and culture, including a Palestinian cultural mural at the student center of San Francisco State University.
In his introduction to the Encyclopedia, Oweis writes: "While the works represented in this book are rooted, in part, in Arab American culture, they also speak to audiences around the world about universal issues that are enlightening and educational."
Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists is published by Greenwood Publishing Group.
For more information, see: Fayeq Oweis and Arab American National Museum.
