MEET THEM
Part of 100 Days Actions, Organized by Shaghayegh Cyrous and Bonny Nahmias
In response to the recent travel ban of seven Muslim countries and the rise of Islamophobia in the US and across the world, MENA will be hosting Meet "Them", two week long series of programming including presentations, lectures, screenings, interviews and participatory workshops facilitated by MENA's member students, alumni, and faculty, at CCA’s Hubbell Street Galleries from February 28 to March 11th. Food and Fables Feast potluck planned for the opening reception on Thursday March 2nd, invites members of Bay Area Middle Eastern and North African communities to bring one dish from their home country, and to share a story about it, allowing us to learn, celebrate and honor one another through a simple, personal and meaningful exchange.
Feature Artists: Misha Abbas, Shaghayegh Cyrous, Farbod Khoshtinat, Atoosa Maleki, Keyvan Shovir, Bonny Nahmias
While US courts will be debating the ban’s legality in the coming months, many members of these communities feel confused, alienated, and fearful for their unknown future in this country. Meet "Them", wishes to introduce ’them’, borrowed from the ideology and division of "us vs. them", which is ever so present in today’s America. Our intention is to give voice to "them", the many who have been demonized and homogenized as one group, be it Muslims, Arabs, Terrorists, Refugees, or Immigrants, the “other". Through this week-long exhibition project, we wish to create an opportunity for a more empathetic exchange and a broader understanding of those labeled and perceived as enemies through the stories and histories shared by individuals and communities.
MENA is a group branched out of California College of the Arts that exists to recognize, make visible, and support the diverse Middle Eastern and North African artist communities in the Bay Area.