|
the collective composition:
RADFAN ALQIRSH
Radfan Alqirsh currently works in art education with special-needs students. He is studying towards degrees in film and fine arts.
“In a society where endless streams of stimuli constantly bombard the public and art has become it’s greatest enemy and ally, those who are involved in the creative process control the perception and experience of those very people. The age of mass communication has seen the battle of competing ideas increase in intensity. So has the number of those who use creativity to feed the indifference and diversion of the masses.
My goal is to create art, whether it be visual or audible, that incites the audience to think, converse and hopefully, react to their social realities.”
MOHAMAD BAZZI
Mohamad Bazzi teaches art at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. He is continuously involved in community art projects, collaborating closely wiht his students as well as other art professionals.
“The world rushes past us, screeching like a duststorm at the heels of a devastating horde. We stand in our spaces, attempting to withstand the gusts of violence and intimidation. We clutch to the memories of ourselves and our origins, protecting them from the wolves and the tormenting currents that coil around us; each of us admonished, enduring the terror of the storm. The air feels historic, but in a dreadful, brutal way. In these blinding times of confusion and reprisal, my creative attempts are glimpses into our secret inner knowings.”
IMAD HASSAN
[
click here to see Imad's website. ]
Imad Hassan is a production coordinator at Comcast Cable, overseeing local origination production. He previously worked as reporter and editor at the Arab-American Journal. He says that the “death of journalism” led to his current focus on film and video. He holds two degrees, in journalism and Radio, TV, & Film.
“Being a seasoned media production professional does not reconfigure the short circuit of unanswered dreams. Having experience in all aspects of production does not pacify the scorch of long years lived in cultural misidentification.”
JOE NAMY
[
click here to see Joe's website. ]
Joe Namy is an interdiciplinary artist who is currently
studying to obtain a total freedom of expression through any and all
means of visual and sonic communications.
"I seek to promote and empower an image deserving
of my heritage. Appropriating from a culturally insensitive and illiterate
media, I attempt to create a consciousness for my people, a people that
is all too often misunderstood and misrepresented. My expressions are
related through exploiting the digital medium from which many of these
constricts are propagated. However, this art is not only a means to
educate those who are denied exposure to a true Arab image, but serves
also to clarify my own identity, as well as inspire self-awareness for
others.
ROLA NASHEF
[
click here to see Rola's upcomming film's website. ]
Rola has been a filmmaker and producer in
the Detroit and Arab-American community, utilizing her experience in
the arts and Metro Detroit's diverse ethnic communities as a catalyst
for social change and cultural representation.
After studying screenwriting, film production and directing at The Motion
Picture Institute of Michigan, Nashef directed "8:30," a short
narrative film shot on 16mm which screened at local and international
film festivals. Her current project "Detroit Unleaded" is
a short narrative film which explores the world of Arab-owned gas stations
in Detroit.
Excerts from "Detroit Unleaded"
Sami remains, trapped behind his bulletproof glass and struggling against
sleep and hours of isolation. He smokes, he eats, and he attempts to
chew tobacco. With every moment, the walls inside the cage seem to physically
move in on him until Sami is sitting on the crate and is unable to move.
He is trapped! Trapped by cigarettes, chips, condoms, plastic roses,
lottery tickets, rolling papers, lighters and skittles. He looks around
at his predicament, and, with only one place to go, slides under the
counter (his make-shift bed) and falls asleep.
Time passes and the jarring bell of the door suddenly awakens Sami.
Relieved that a customer has arrived, he jumps up to find that the walls
have moved back to their normal positions, and Naj standing behind the
bulletproof glass-finally.
LANA RAHME
Lana Rahme is a graduate of the College for Creative
Studies, earning a BFA in crafts with a concentration in metals.
“I gather ideas and inspiration for my Jewelry
from details in nature, such as microcells, certain textures on fruit,
random repetitive natural patterns, etc. With that said, I don’t
want to imitate nature, but instead I want to create a certain nature
detail by relying on how my imaginative eye wants that detail to relate
to the body.”
|
