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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090328T000000
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DTSTAMP:20230705T172306Z
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SUMMARY:Iraqi/American Youth Mural Workshop: “How Will They Know Us? Building a Culture of Peace”
DESCRIPTION:A two-day art workshop will bring together a group of local Iraqi and American youth to collaborate on a mural painting project. These youth share visions of a peaceful\, just coexistence in the workshop\, “How Will They Know Us? Building a Culture of Peace.” Guided by Claudia Lefko\, director of the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange\, among others\, these murals will be exhibited in Egypt next year for the “UNESCO Decade of Peace and Non-Violence Among Children of the World.”  \n\n\n\nThe workshop is being co-sponsored by the Sanctuary for Independent Media\, the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange\, and the Iraqi Refugee Project. The Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange in Northampton\, MA invites Iraqi and American children and youth to participate in art-inspired project to foster communication\, and promote peace and nonviolence. The Iraqi Refugee Project is a coalition of Women Against War\, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace\, Women’s Association for Family Affairs whose goal is to support the needs of Iraqi refugees locally and internationally through direct assistance\, advocacy and education about the issue. \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nGuided by Claudia Lefko\, director of the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange\, Branda Miller\, Rensselaer professor of media arts\, and mural artists\, Linda Iannacone and Lauren Jacobs\, the American and Iraqi youth ages 8 to 18 will work together to shed light on the Iraqi refugee experiences and to share visions of a peaceful and just coexistence through artistic expression. \n\n\n\nProfessor Branda Miller’s students from her “Art\, Community\, Technology Class” at RPI and artist Linda Iannacone\, an experienced muralist\, will also help facilitate the workshop. Branda Miller is a media artist and educator and co-founder of The Sanctuary for Independent Media. \n\n\n\nThe ultimate destination of the mural is Egypt\, where in September\, 2010\, the end of the UNESCO Decade of Peace and Non-violence Among Children will be celebrated with a giant\, gala exhibition of thousands of murals created by children and youth from around the world. Claudia Lefko’s organization the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange is coordinating The Iraq Art Mile as part of The Art Miles Murals\, an international project that emerged in support of the UNESCO Decade of Peace. The Iraqi Art Mile will be a series of murals painted in the Middle East and in the US with the theme: Building a Culture of Peace: Who Are We/Who Are They.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/iraqi-american-youth-mural-workshop-how-will-they-know-us-building-a-culture-of-peace-3-28-09-and-3-29-09/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Community Event,Workshop
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090402T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20090402T160000
DTSTAMP:20230705T171853Z
CREATED:20090402T205200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T171853Z
UID:10001548-1238673600-1238688000@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:"Upstate Girls\," A Conversation
DESCRIPTION:Teenage girls from throughout the Capital Region share stories about the challenges in their lives\, gathering with representatives of the institutions with which they are entwined – including the legal\, educational\, healthcare\, and penal systems- in response to award winning photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally’s compelling work.  \n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary will host a one day workshop to facilitate a dialogue between girls from the Upstate Girls exhibition\, other young women growing up in the Capital Region\, and the many agencies that can influence their efforts to break the cycle of post-industrial marginalization.  \n\n\n\nThe day will begin with a tour of Brenda Ann Kenneally’s award wining photographs and responses to the work. We will continue with a scrapbook workshop facilitated by young women from the neighborhood\, presentations by local change makers and breakout stations. The day will conclude with a final discussion with all participants. \n\n\n\nThis free workshop has been partially funded\, in part\, by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Media Justice Fund of the Funding Exchange. \n\n\n\nAPRIL 2nd SCHEDULE: “Upstate Girls’ Conversation”\n\n\n\n12:00- 12:30 Brenda Ann Kenneally and the Upstate Girls: Exhibition Tour \n\n\n\n12:30 Dr. NetterHolistic Doctor\, Nutritional Consultant\, Reiki Master Healer and Teacher\, Certified Professional Life Coach\, presentation: Nutrition\, how to make easy healthy meals and home healing ideas. \n\n\n\n12:50 Jenn ThompsonNon-traditional education at HVCC\, Power and orgasm (SUNY Albany PHD) \n\n\n\n1:10 Mari Shopsis\, Education Director\, Rensselaer County Historical Society: Historical Scrapbooks. *The Upstate Girls Scrapbooks will be entered into the Rensselaer County Historical Society archive! \n\n\n\n1:30 Stations and Informal Conversations \n\n\n\nSmoothies and Trail Mix Stations: Karissa Centanni: Education Coordinator\, Honest Weight Food Coop: Nutrition and Low-budget Tips \n\n\n\nScrapbook Station:                                                                                                                       Dana Aftab and the Upstate Girls \n\n\n\nPress interviews \n\n\n\n2:10 Blue Carreker\, VP of Public Affairs and Marketing\, and Megan Carol\, Sexual Health Educator\, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood: Reproductive health information \n\n\n\n2:30 Q Diamond\, Program DirectorCapital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council \n\n\n\n2:50 Lisa Frisch\, Executive Director\, The Legal Project: Free and low cost legal services  \n\n\n\n3:10  Alysa Cole\, Family Health Advocates: AdvocacyWhy Upstate Girls voices are important; how they can be heard \n\n\n\n3:30 Wrap up conversation\, Upstate Girls: Moving Forward
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/upstate-girls-a-conversation/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Gallery Show,Panel Discussion,Workshop
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090403T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20090403T210000
DTSTAMP:20230705T172811Z
CREATED:20090403T203900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T172811Z
UID:10000920-1238785200-1238792400@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:"Shoot an Iraqi: Life\, Art and Resistance Under the Gun" with Artist Wafaa Bilal
DESCRIPTION:“Virtual Jihadi” artist returns to Capital Region with new book. Wafaa Bilal braves fear of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Troy censorship to speak again! Iraqi-American digital artist Bilal’s new book Shoot an Iraqi: Life\, Art and Resistance Under the Gun tells the story of the Domestic Tension project that placed him 24/7 on the receiving end of a paintball gun accessible online to a global audience – and what really happened on his infamous visit to Troy last spring.  \n\n\n\nThis presentation is co-sponsored by Women Against War. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPress Release:\n\n\n\nWafaa Bilal has exhibited his art world wide\, and traveled and lectured extensively to inform audiences of the situation of the Iraqi people\, and the importance of peaceful conflict resolution. \n\n\n\nHe will be speaking about\, and signing copies of\, his new book “Shoot an Iraqi: Life\, Art and Resistance Under the Gun” (City Lights)\, about his experiences as an Iraqi-American living in the United States. \n\n\n\nAccording to a review in Publisher’s Weekly\, “Weaving together accounts of Iraq and America\, art and violence\, performance and reality\, past and present\, this gripping account all but shakes the reader by the lapels.” \n\n\n\nBilal’s 2007 dynamic installation “Domestic Tension” placed him on the receiving end of a paintball gun that was accessible online to a worldwide audience\, 24 hours a day. Newsweek called the project “breathtaking” and the Chicago Tribune called the month-long piece “one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time\,” and named Bilal its 2007 Artist of the Year. \n\n\n\nBilal has exhibited worldwide including in Baghdad\, the Netherlands\, Thailand and Croatia; as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago\, the Milwaukee Art Museum and various other US galleries. His residencies have included Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga\, California; Catwalk in New York; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. \n\n\n\nIn March 2008\, his installation at RPI called “The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi” drew controversy when a few Campus Republicans demanded its closure.  RPI President Shirley Jackson responded by ordering the art work removed from campus\, leading to accusations of politically-motivated censorship and widespread condemnation. \n\n\n\nThe exhibit was offered sanctuary off-campus at The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, a community-based media center in north Troy. \n\n\n\nRensselaer County Republican Majority Leader Bob Mirch\, who was at the time employed by former State Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno\, led a protest against the exhibit surrounded by his employees from the City of Troy’s Department of Public Works.  The next day\, City of Troy code enforcement officials under his supervision ordered the building closed. \n\n\n\nThe resulting public outcry\, which included an angry protest outside Troy City Hall\, resulted in donations of tens of thousands of dollars to support The Sanctuary for Independent Media and an outpouring of volunteers. \n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media–whose programming was hosted in exile by supportive local churches\, small businesses and other organizations–re-opened a month later\, in April 2008. \n\n\n\nThe Capital Region branch of the New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a notice of claim against the City of Troy in preparation for a possible lawsuit. \n\n\n\nIn “The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi\,” Bilal casts himself as a suicide-bomber in the game.  After learning of the real-life death of his brother in the war\, he is recruited by Al Qaeda to join the hunt for Bush. \n\n\n\n“Virtual Jihadi” is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war and racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as “Quest for Saddam” along with vulnerability to recruitment by violent groups like Al Qaeda because of the U.S.’s failed strategy in securing Iraq. The work also aims to shed light on groups that traffic in crass and hateful stereotypes of Arab culture with games like Quest for Saddam and other media. \n\n\n\nAccording to Bilal\, “In these difficult times\, when we are at war with another nation\, it is our duty as artists and citizens to improvise strategies of engagement for dialogue. This platform is a piece of fiction that uses the video game format to create alternative narratives and perspectives.” \n\n\n\n“Because we inhabit a comfort zone far from the trauma of conflict zone\, we Americans have become desensitized to the violence of war. We are disconnected\, disengaged while many others do the suffering. The game holds up a mirror that reveals our own propensities for violence\, racism and propaganda. We can close our eyes\, our ears and deny that it exists\, but the issue won’t go away.” \n\n\n\nWafaa Bilal was born in Iraq on June 10\, 1966. Because a member of his family had been accused of disloyalty to his country\, Wafaa was denied the opportunity to pursue his dream of being an artist. Instead\, he was to attend college to major in geography. While in college\, he continued to pursue his art and was arrested and tortured for his political art work against Sadaam Hussein. \n\n\n\nShortly after the Gulf War\, Wafaa was inspired by President Bush’s message to the Iraqi citizens that if they attempted to overthrow Sadaam\, the U.S. would stand behind them. He became involved in organizing opposition to the government and was scheduled for arrest and execution when he escaped into Kuwait. There he was accused of being a spy and was close to being shot when his student ID convinced them he told the truth. \n\n\n\nWafaa was sent to a refugee camp on the Kuwaiti border. In the camp\, people laughed when rather than accept life in a tent he began forming brick that he dried in the sun and fashioned into a home. The adobe served a practical purpose\, for it provided relative safety from abduction by Kuwaiti soldiers who sneaked into tents in the middle of the night to kidnap young people for sale to Iraqi soldiers who tortured\, raped and executed them or the Turkish soldiers themselves would rape and kill them. \n\n\n\nFor two years\, Wafaa lived in limbo not knowing if each day would be his last. Still Wafaa worked to improve his art\, cleaning toilets in the camp to earn the money for art supplies\, buying supplies for children for art therapy to help them to work through the horrors witnessed. His experiences developed within him an abhorrence of violence and oppression and strengthened his inner resolve. \n\n\n\nIn 1992\, Wafaa came to the United States and took classes to learn English. Then\, he began art studies at the University of New Mexico where he excelled. His art is of a political nature that speaks to oppression of the human spirit\, including that of women who are bound by the rules of culture. He has won many awards for his art as well as a scholarship to the Chicago Institute of Art for post graduate study. He is now teaching at New York University in New York City.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/shoot-an-iraqi-life-art-and-resistance-under-the-gun-with-author-wafaa-bilal/
CATEGORIES:Speaker
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