Exploring New Forms and Meanings: the Intersection of Audience, Ideas, and Art A two-day symposium at the Arab American National Museum in conjunction with the exhibition In/Visible - Contemporary Art by Arab Americans. This first symposium on the creative expressions of Arab Americans will explore modes of representation and reception of visual and musical art forms within the context of transnationalism and globalization. Scholars, art professors and artists working in diverse media─ including painting, video, sculpture, mixed media installations, photography, music, and film─ will share their experiences of working between two worlds and how they infuse and synthesize elements of these experiences into their work. The Symposium will open a dialogue on an art that has long been marginalized and is currently moving towards the center; it will further challenge the audience to reassess their notions of art by non-Western artists, and to take a critical look at its interplay with contemporary American art. The symposium is organized in conjunction with the Arab American National Museum ’s inaugural art exhibition, In/Visible. Symposium content will be centered on dialogue fostered by participating artists of In/Visible, in addition to themes presented in the Museum’s Arab World permanent exhibit. The Program will feature lectures, panel discussions, and general dialogue on Arab and Arab American artistic forms and representation as expressed through both exhibitions. Each session will provide a platform for dialogue between panelists and the audience. In/Visible is the first exhibition of contemporary art by first and second generation Americans of Arab heritage. We encourage symposium participants to attend its opening on Thursday, May 19th, at 5:00pm. The opening reception and exhibition tour is free and open to the public. Immediately following, there will be film-screenings and presentations by filmmakers Annemarie Jacir and Jacqueline Salloum in the Museum’s auditorium. A small series of social activities and press interviews will maximize the time of participating artists, symposium speakers, and local artists and community members. We look forward to sharing this important and timely dialogue with the public. For more information contact: The symposium is sponsored in part by the University of Michigan Dearborn and by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. |