Mediterranean Fire, LLC, Mitli, Mitlak (Like You, Like Me)
March 3, 2020
Mediterranean Fire, LLC, Mitli, Mitlak (Like You, Like Me) at the Richard E. Peeler Art Center
On view: February 3 – June 9, 2020
Greencastle, IN – DePauw University presents an exhibition from Mediterranean Fire, LLC, entitled Mitli, Mitlak (Like You, Like Me). The exhibition will run in the Lower Gallery at the Peeler Art Center from February 3 to June 9.
Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me) is a culmination of curator Biba Sheikh’s collaborations with Mediterranean refugees, thirteen Arab-world artists have created a body of work that weaves her poetic texts, shared immigrant experiences, and their own testimonies into visual works of art. Collectively, they illuminate stories of indignation, systemic discouragement, human trafficking, gender biases, exodus, and survival of life as human flotsam in an ever changing, turbulent political ocean. Together with Sheikh, the artists are discussing Refugees, America, and Cultural Hybrid Theories.
The artists of Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me) communicate through a variety of media delivering messages rich in thematic subjects. One theme that dominates the refugee experience, that of landscape arrives on canvas where architecture, political apparatuses and history are dismantled with the destructive revelry of a toddler. The theme of landscape is revisted by several participants with such concerns as the constant metamorphosis of social structure, moving boundaries between capitalism and culture, war, and the facets of the human psyche.
Sheikh spent years conducting ‘creative interventions’ with Syrian refugee youth detained on the Greek island of Mykonos and in Athens, and Beirut. Certain of the healing property of story telling, Sheikh has employed Hakawati (a traditional storytelling platform that engages the community in problem solving), dance, art, and sound to assist the youth in finding their own voice of liberation. The resulting script of Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me) is a theatrical fusion of personal reflection melded with Arab flamenco rhythms and sound poetry which will be used in continuing workshops with youth refugees.
The artists of this exhibition, many of whom are current residents of occupied territories and refugee camps, include: Hani Alqam (Jordan), Thameur Mejri (Tunisia), Sinan Hussein (Iraq), Taghlib Oweis (Jordan), Wael Darweish (Egypt), Ahmed Nagy (Egypt), Klaudja Sulaj (Albania), Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece), Manal Kortam (Lebanon), Abbas Yousif (Bahrain), Basel Uraiqat (Jordan), Mohammed Al Hawajri (Palestine), Haitham Khatib (Syria), May Murad (Palestine), Hassan Meer (Oman). All have been given a voice through this Detroit based endeavor. in Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me), we have witness to how their situations reverberate with refugees world-wide.
For an up-to-date listing of free events and lectures associated with the exhibition, please visit: https://www.depauw.edu/arts-and-culture/arts/peeler/exhibits/
HOURS AND LOCATION
The galleries at the Richard E. Peeler Art Center are open Monday-Friday 10 am – 4 pm; Saturday 11 am - 5 pm; and Sunday 1 – 5 pm, and are closed during University breaks and holidays. Please visit our website at depauw.edu/galleries for more information about special events associated with this exhibition. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Sinan Hussein (Iraq)
Just a Concert
2018, acrylic on canvas