Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me)

Mediterranean Fire LLC + Concert of Colors presents…

Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me)

curated by Biba Sheikh

July 3 - 31, 2024

Opening reception: Wed, July 17, 5-8pm

Lecture and performance Sun, July 21, 3-5pm

Description:

Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me) By Elizabeth Shoshany, Critic Curator

Every minute, 24 people around the world are forced to flee their homes. There are 65 million refugees globally today. This crisis affects us all, regardless of location or legal status. Many artists in this show are current residents of occupied territories or refugee camps, working collaboratively to tell firsthand stories of exile, refuge, displacement, and war.

Through a narrative style, viewers can trace experiences of wandering and chaos across the canvases. Some works are vibrantly celebratory, almost jubilant, while others use imagery of violence, such as Wael Darweish’s Burning Bodies and Klaudja Sulaj’s Feminist Portrayal of a Woman Taking Her Life, to evoke the vulnerability of being without asylum.

Several artists interpret events of uproar, uprising, and revolution. Hani Alqam’s Arab Spring and Abbas Yousif’s The Soul of Light use discordantly layered Arabic characters to portray pandemonium. Ahmed Nagy’s series Daily Images of Chaotic Events is based on street photographs taken during the Egyptian revolution, giving creators the power to show and communicate their realities.

The figures in these canvases are often nomadic, wandering, and depicting the uncertainty of displacement. Basel Uraiqat’s Refuge series shows families and solitary figures walking through abstracted, hazy settings. Other artists use absurdity to capture the hazards of war. Dynamic and surreal, works like Sing that who sings words present farcical situations with heavy imagery depicting the perplexity of conflict. The Camera measuring series, I will bury my love around you, features almost childlike drawings of cartoon characters and lambs flung across the page.

These works respond to poetic texts by Habibah Sheikh, a nomadic performance artist from Lebanon and curator of this exhibition. In these texts, a character named Ruba experiences the destruction of war firsthand and becomes a refugee. These complex and startling words invite viewers to consider deeply what it means to have refuge and how safety and security impact our lives.

The Arabic and Islamic diaspora is a vast population that defies global boundaries, characterization, and essentialization. These artists, working in various mediums and countries, are connected through a common narrative while depicting their diverse experiences and identities in unique ways. Ultimately, these works symbolize a celebration of survival, perseverance, community, and culture.

The title, Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me), is an expression commonly used during war. It means, “Like You, Like Me…whether you die or I die, we are the same; if I must die for you, I will.” We are more alike than different, we are all human. I am you. We are part of the Oneness.

About the Curator:Habibah (Biba) SheikhFounder of Mediterranean Fire LLC, Habibah (Biba) Sheikh is an author, curator, performer, producer, and director who has worked in refugee camps to create meaningful connections through written and performative arts and storytelling. Her current projects, “Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me)” and “Right To Live,” as well as Seed to Cedar, present situations of forced migration in the Mediterranean. These projects have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (USA), Born Global Foundation (ME), and TransCultures Center for Sonic and Digital Arts (Brussels), among others.

We warmly invite you to join us in this profound exhibition that brings new heartwarming meanings, communion, and healing. Witness the power of art in revealing the paradoxes that camouflage atrocities and celebrate the poetry of resilience and will.

Opening Reception: July 17, 5-8pm

Location: The Lounge in the Scarab Club. 217 Farnsworth Street Detroit 48202

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Scarab Club, Farnsworth Street, Detroit, MI, USA, United States