Arts & Entertainment

Arab-American Artists Featured at Weekend Forum in Dearborn

"DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts," will take place Friday and Saturday at the Arab American National Museum.

Artists, activists and scholars from across the United States will converge on the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn this weekend for the annual DIWAN conference.

Panelists will speak about their recent work, the challenges of being an Arab-American after 9/11, and how the terrorist attacks on the country has affected their work. Other topics will include how to better mainstream Arabic culture and how to combat anti-Arab prejudice with art, according to museum spokeswoman Kim Silarski.

Some of the big names in attendance this year include Tony Award-winning actress Suheir Hammad, and Susan Abulhawa, the international best-selling author of "Mornings in Jenin." The book is a first-person account of a Palestinian family’s suffering during 60 years of Israeli occupation. It was first published in the United States in 2006 under the title "The Scar of David." It has since been published in Arabic, French and 21 other languages and reissued by Bloomsbury in 2010.

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Diwan is an Arabic word for gathering. "DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts" is designed to unite Arab-Americans representing myriad creative genres and academic fields.

"It allows these diverse individuals to meet, exchange ideas and exhibit their work, while also encouraging audiences to explore the boundaries of art in addressing social issues related to Arab-Americans and the community at large," Silarski said.

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On both Friday and Saturday there will be presentations on new art, poetry and prose readings, along with topical subjects like the Libyan revolution, with commentary by two Libyan-American artists from Benghazi.

DIWAN5 Exhibit Spotlights Local Artists

In conjunction with DIWAN5, the Arab American National Museum will present "DIWAN5: The Exhibition" - works by 12 Arab-American artists drawn from the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition opened March 15 and runs through Sept. 1 in the lower level gallery.

Recently donated works by Hanah Diab, Julienne Johnson and John Peters are making their debut, while Adnan Charara’s energetic piece, "Open Minded," returns for a showing. Helen Zughaib’s vivid "Prayer Rug for America" is back from the museum’s 2005 temporary exhibition, In/Visible.

"By spotlighting works from its collection, the museum aims to foster the creation, display and collection of Arab-American art in the national Arab-American community and in the American art mainstream," Silarski said.

A complete list of featured artists is available on the museum's website.

"DIWAN5: A Forum for the Arts" takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave., in Dearborn.

Tickets are $25 or $20 for museum members, and $15 for students with ID. Tickets for the Saadi performance are $10, and $9 for museum members and conference participants.

For more information, call 313-582-2266.


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