"Re- interpreting the Middle-East Beyond The Historical Stereotype"

Although the West's marginalization of Middle Eastern culture has long been the object of postmodern critical analysis, current geo-political dissension and conflict give this issue greater and immediate urgency. The artists participating in this print exchange have sought in their works to question the power of representation and counter-representation in the stereotyping of "East" and "West."   However, rather than bemoaning the ever-growing division between these two cultural perspectives, this project seeks to employ other pictorial and rhetorical strategies to link, suture, bridge, fuse, and hybridize these cultural differences.   

Re-interpreting the Middle East is the creation of a group of 23 committed artists of varied nationalities and backgrounds embracing print hybrids, and responding critically to how other cultures inform relations of art.  It commenced as a call for a thematic print exchange, approved and welcomed by the Southern Graphics Council International Conference, "The Power in Print", March 30-April 3, Washington DC.  The collected work was exhibited at the conference and came together in a remarkable visual dialogue, which was augmented by a panel discussion that encouraged more discussion. This project is now transformed into a prominent commitment to expand on this call and invite more artists to deal with these cultural issues, both as a means of communication and as a force of social transformation.

In Native American and Middle Eastern art side by side, parallel themes emerge most notably, representations of the occupation of one's land. Both Middle Eastern and Native American art has been looted and consequently these cultures have been stripped bare, used in the position of an object for study and exhibition, and situated in a remote primitiveness. Although this project features groups of artists dealing with these specific cultures, it represents a wider spectrum of views and not limited to one major group.

This fabulous collection is now going further to reach out a larger audience in different venues both in the United States and the Middle East, where we hope it will intrigue further conversation and add contribution to this discourse in these venues.