We need your help to get in the picture.
The scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, along with the prevalence of photography not only brought torture and humiliation to the forefront of thought, it played a critical role in bringing the image of the Arab male body into the national spotlight. The paradigm presented through those grave depictions repositioned the body in Middle Eastern culture. The voiceless images said something, unfaithful to a group of people facing more challenges presently than ever before.
The misrepresentation of physical/sexual persona of Arab men, both inside and outside the prison, became distorted and wronged by this embarrassment.
Arabs are confused, apprehensive and in many unfortunate cases, skeptical about their future. Without an appropriate platform for self-expression, the complex and multi-faceted nature of the culture is sadly being usurped.
In order to rectify some of the damage done by the incidents captured with the photos, we would like to propose a project that will provide Arab men with the opportunity to liberate and to express both themselves and/or their sexuality as they see fit. Using the same body to express and to liberate themselves from a visions representation. This project’s aim is to give Arab men a new voice through the medium that has far too often, and quite severely through Abu Ghraib, served to take that voice away from them.
Why is this so important now? Since September 11th, Arabs have been experiencing a kind of emotional and cultural interment. They have been inexplicitly encouraged to maintain a low profile while the Justice Department conducts investigations and keeps them under the watchful eye of the government and FBI with very little scrutiny from the media and Congress.
As a Swiss Proverb states: “When one shuts one eye, one does not hear everything.” Those of us proposing this project believe that through seeing more, we can only understand more fully each other and the world we are living in. We are asking that you help us raise awareness of this aspect of Arab culture in order to encourage acceptance and learning, and to enrich a cross-cultural dialogue that is of the utmost importance in this precarious time.
The Project.
Arab Men Photo Gallery
We intend to collect photos submitted by Arab men from all over the world, photos which convey the masculine identities and personalities of their subjects. Men will submit their digital photos expressing their own identity as an Arab man, the photo should represent a comfortable profile of their body (clothed or unclothed) revealing something about themselves and their attitude about their masculinity and body. Photos submitted should represent a comfortable profile of their subjects’ bodies (clothed or unclothed), thereby conveying a personal statement about subjects’ attitudes on masculinity and the male body in general.”
Submitted photos should be accompanied by brief essays whose purpose would be to contextually interpret the accompanying images.”
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The objectives of the project:
1. To present a comprehensive view of the Arab male identity to mainstream America.
2. To introduce to American people the diversity within Arab culture.
3. To exhibit the different views of the Arab men through art.
4. To provide Arab men with an alternative venue to define themselves and to represent their own views and images of themselves and their sexuality.
Estimated Cost:
Photo editing and managing $7,000
Photo Gallery and art show (setup and managing, $10,000
Web designing and web hosting /Multimedia and online gallery
(set-up and maintaining) $9,000
Staff and Misc. (Managing and organizing) $6,000
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Total $30,000
*By donating to this positive and stimulating undertaking, your sponsorship will be announced weekly at both the beginning and end of the Arab American television program BelAhdan, as well as be promoted in the bi-monthly newsletter and other promotional materials for all community activities and news.
Who we are:
We are a group of Arab-American men and women based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
involved in broadening Arab and Arab-American expression in our community. For
more information, please e-mail us at:
Ahmed Tharwat: Director
Host and Producer of the
Arab American TV show Belahdan
Amy Kamal Communication Manager:
Kitty AAl: Chair of Photo editing and screening:
Heba Amin: Chair of Web design and developing:
Hend Almansor: Chair of promotion and publicity:
Please send your sponsorship to:
Mail: Ahmed Tharwat
UST
ST-Mail MCN800
Division of Business
2115 Summit Ave.
201 McNeely Hall
St. Paul, MN 55105-1096
Please fill out this Sponsorship Form/
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