I have received a Rhizome Commission Grant!

The proposal:
Cairo exudes the clichés of a romanticized Ancient Egypt and, through its tourism industry, is banking on fantasy. If one looks up Cairo on the Internet they will find a representation of a city that no longer exists, and perhaps never existed. The contemporary identity of Cairo is confused, where Egyptians are constantly defined by their country’s history rather than the present moment. Today, while its ancient monuments still define the city, Cairo’s contemporary infrastructure is in a deteriorating state.

Heavily populated with abandoned structures, the visuals of the city reveal the neglect for the city’s infrastructure and a disregard for space and resources that could be utilized to aid millions living in poverty. The city’s structures illustrate the government’s incapability in nurturing a healthy physical and social environment. The relationship between the emotional unrest and the physical city structure is quite apparent. This project attempts to raise awareness to the haphazard structures outnumbering the monuments that represent Cairo. It attempts to depict the harsh reality of the physical state of the city and address the role that the urban infrastructure plays in instigating unrest amongst its inhabitants.

Over the next year I plan to locate and research the history (and purpose) of various abandoned structures in Cairo. I will create SketchUp models to populate Google Earth and counteract the skewed understanding of the city’s experience online where only models of historic monuments exist. Additionally, I will establish an identity for a tourism company that gives tours of these abandoned structures. I will mimic the presentation of existing tour guide companies, via brochures and a website; I will attend tours and educate myself on how they are conducted; I will consult with a licensed tour guide, and will, lastly, execute my own tours. This performance will attempt to raise the stature of these abandoned buildings to that of “monuments” and comment on the lack of concern towards Cairo’s present-day inhabitants. The project will attempt to bring to light the correlation between political instability and urban infrastructure as well as the country’s inability to live in the present time.
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Two of the commissions were determined by Rhizome’s membership through an open vote; eight were determined by a jury including Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Design at the Museum of Modern Art; Jason Kottke, blogger, Kottke.org; Henriette Huldisch Independent Curator and co-curator of the 2008 Whitney Biennial; Monica Narula, artist, Raqs Media Collective; and Paul Pieroni, freelance curator, critic and Associate Director of SEVENTEEN.

more info ->

I think more along the lines of “lethargic and defeated”. After having been away for so long and coming back, I find extremely alarming the sense of resignation amongst people in this city. People seem to have given up.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/world/middleeast/18egypt.html

Read Norma Smith Olson’s article “Powerful Portraits: Heba Amin gives faces to extraordinary Muslim women“.

“Halide Edib Adivar, Umm Kulthum, Arwa bint Ahmed al-Sulayhiyya, and Shirin Ebadi are names that may be unfamiliar to many in the United States. They are four women-a scholar, a musician, a queen and a Nobel Peace Prize winner-portrayed in the recently released book, “Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World.” 

It was a learning experience for this month’s cover artist Heba Amin, who painted 11 portraits for the book. “That’s what made this project exciting for me. It exposed me to these amazing women, many that I didn’t know about,” Amin said. In her research for the paintings, she found few pictures of the women. She had the challenge of conceptualizing their images-the perfect project for a women artist who focuses on the intellectual power of art.” [more]

Read my article “Fragmented City: Visualizing the City-Psyche Relationship of Cairo” included in this Spring’s online edition. The article is a condensed version of my thesis research.

Fragmented City photo

Abstract: Fragmented City seeks to address the urban landscape of Cairo and its emotional impact on its inhabitants. The visual characteristics of the city display the deterioration of urban life where masses of abandoned and haphazard structures attest to the government’s laissez-faire attitude in dealing with urban planning. As inhabitable structures take up space and resources, inhabitants of the city begin to clash, rather than coexist with their built environment.

I have explored visual re-interpretations of fragments of the city by translating and relocating visual information through various media. These visual manifestations attempt to portray an emotional experience and perspective of the current political and social climate of the region. I am working from the hypothesis that Cairo’s urban landscape negatively impacts the psyche and plays a significant role in influencing behavior. My visual explorations move from photography, to drawing, to web based environments, installation and projection work. By immersing the viewer in a particular environment, each visual displacement constitutes a re-assessment of scale and visual engagement intended to elicit sensations comparable to those experienced in physical space.

The 2009 Spring edition of the Journal of the New Media Caucus focuses on the theme “Foreignness and Translation in New Media“. Edited by Pat Badani, “The collected essays in this edition provide a thought-provoking expansion on the themes of “foreignness” and “translation”, subjects habitually explored through the lens of identity. The edition expands the discourse to examine different kinds of identifications, translations and geographies – opening up personal, cultural, physical and conceptual definitions. The essays explore the ways evolving technologies are being used by cultural practitioners to re-interpret and incorporate these notions.”

Extraordinary Women From the Muslim World wins the 2009 Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural and International Awareness. Here is a list of the 2009 winners.

Read Jeff Strickler’s Article “Putting a Face on Role Models” in the Star Tribune.

Minneapolis artist Heba Amin didn’t have to be asked twice if she wanted to illustrate a book on female Muslim heroes. Not only was it a chance to get a paycheck from her art after a decade spent earning three college degrees, but it was a project she wholeheartedly embraced.

“I’m very aware of cultural stereotypes,” she said. “The image of Muslim women in the United States is of veiled, oppressed people who have no voice. But in fact, Muslim women have a long history of remarkable achievements.” [more]

“Extraordinary Women From the Muslim World“ wins a 2008 Middle East Book Award in the category of Youth Non-Fiction. More information at: http://www.outreachworld.org/article.asp?articleid=121.

“Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World” has been awarded a National Best Books 2008 Award in the category of “Religion: Islam”. View complete listing: http://USABookNews.com/bestbooksawards2008.html

“Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World” has been awarded the Moonbeam Peacemaker Award!

About the award: The Moonbeam Peacemaker Award is established to honor the best book for promoting world peace and human tolerance in memory of Mattie J.T. Stepanek (1990-2004), whose poetry and messages of hope and peace have inspired millions of people around the world.

About Moonbeam: The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are designed to honor the best children’s books, authors and illustrators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading.

http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1250

“Extraordinary Women From the Muslim World” my first illustrated book is finally out!
Purchase it at Amazon.com! 

Written by Natalie Maydell and Sep Riahi and illustrated by Heba Amin Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World profiles “Muslim women who have lived extraordinary lives and gone to influence their communities in a positive way, often overcoming extreme hardship and inaccurate stereotypes that have often been placed on the role of women in Islam”. Proceeds from the book will be donated to Islamic Relief to help their efforts with women and children of Sudan. For more information on the book go to: www.extraordinarywomen.tv or view images here.