The Lands within Me – Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab OriginHull, Quebec, October 18, 2001 — Starting October 19, the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) presents the largest exhibition of works by contemporary Canadian artists of Arab origin ever presented in Canada. The Lands within Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin assembles more than sixty works and a diversity of modes of expression: painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, photography, ceramics, video, jewellery and calligraphy.
The 26 participating artists are established in several regions of Canada, from the Maritimes to British Columbia, and their origins lie in countries and regions as diverse as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia. Their works fall within the diverse currents of present-day artistic production and belong to varied styles and genres, including figurative and abstract painting, folk art and fine crafts.
“The immigrant experience, which is at the heart of the exhibition, is not dealt with anecdotally, but as a human experience that can be shared and understood by anyone who lives in a cosmopolitan society,” explains Dr. Aïda Kaouk, Curator of the exhibition and of the South-West Asia and Middle East Programme at the CMC. “Each work can be seen as a homage to cultural intermixing. What the artists in this exhibition express, in images, words and objects, is an identity woven from multiple belongings. This cultural intermixing is all the more evident in that the artists themselves come from multiethnic societies marked by many civilizations.”
“Insight into the heritage and cultural memory of immigrants is an important dimension to understanding Canadian identity,” said Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “The Lands within Me is the latest of many exhibitions on the immigrant experience presented by the CMC. We hope it will contribute to better public knowledge about the diversity and the creative voices of individual Canadians of Arab background.” To bring out this theme, the exhibition accords an important role to the firsthand accounts of the creators. A series of photo portraits of the artists, taken by three of the artists themselves, allows us to glimpse the unique world inhabited by each of them.
On display in the Special Exhibitions Gallery D at the CMC from October 19, 2001 to March 9, 2003, The Lands within Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin will be accompanied by the Festival of Music and Film from the Arab World – Here and There. The Festival, running from October 19 to 28, will feature the music of well-known Canadian artists of Arab origin, including Roula Said, Cheb Dino, Sylva Balassanian, El Hadi, the Toronto groups Mernie and Doula, and Georges Sawa’s Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble. Visitors will also discover a series of films made by the best contemporary Arab filmmakers, which will be presented in the CMC Theatre.
Backgrounders on The Lands within Me
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