UMVA Gallery at CTN (Portland Media Center)
April 2-27, 2018
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Ripton 17 Titi de Baccarat Skateboard Mixed Materials 2018 copy
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Ripton Titi de Baccarat copy
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Ripton 15 Titi de Baccarat Sculpture 2 Mixed Materials 2018 copy
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Ripton 16 Titi de Baccarat Sculpture 5 Mixed Materials 2018 copy
In April, the creative voices and talents of more than a dozen immigrant artists living in greater Portland will be exhibited at the Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery. Seventeen artists collaborated with curators Kifah Abdulla (poet and painter from Iraq), Titi de Baccarat (sculptor and painter from Gabon) and John Ripton (photographer, writer and historian) to create work that expresses their experience as Maine immigrant artists. Each artist – painter, sculptor, photographer, poet and performance artist – will exhibit work that they have completed since arriving in Maine.
Greater Portland is home to thousands of immigrants whose life stories demonstrate the will to overcome lack of opportunity and education, political repression, violence and poverty. Some of the artists in the exhibit are fortunate to have escaped such violations of human rights and other artists have not. All of them have nevertheless distinguished themselves as artists and in many other endeavors. Their collective stories are part of the story of the United States. They inspire us in ways our great grandparents’ and their grandparents’ lives do.
As with earlier immigrants, the newer immigrants are building their lives here and revitalizing Greater Portland, its economy and its culture. The artists will share their desires and dreams as well as their reflections on how they arrived in Maine and the challenges they continue to face. The exhibition of their work will speak directly to the world in which we live, without the spin of manufactured news.
In a time when differences among peoples are being exploited at the highest levels of government, this creative project strives to cross the borders and walls separating brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. The exhibited work speaks to our common humanity. Guided tours of the exhibit for students and teachers of Portland area schools, colleges and universities are also planned.
The Opening with Artists’ Reception is on First Friday’s Art Walk, April 6th (5-8 p.m.) at the UMVA Gallery in the Portland Media Center at 516 Congress Street in Portland. (Click for e-invitation)
Poets and musicians will perform. It will be a celebration of Greater Portland’s immigrant communities, an exciting opportunity to reaffirm the enduring struggle to share this world and this city and state with each other. The public is enthusiastically welcome.
UMVA Gallery Hours:
Monday 12-5 / Tuesday-Thursday 10-5 / Friday & Sunday 1-4
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Ripton 13 Damir Porobic Grass All Return Project Archival Pigment Print 33X44 2014 copy
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Ripton 12 Damir Porobic Graduation Day 1 Archival Pigment Print 36X36 2018 copy
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Ripton 29 Ayman Khaleel Syria acrylic on board
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Ripton 28 Ayman Khaleel Syria 1 Acrylic on Board
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Ripton 25 Sofia Aldinio Nervous Water Photographic Print 8X10 2017
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Ripton 24 Sofia Aldinio The Captain Photographic Print 8X10 2017
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Ripton 22 Yelena Fiske Untitled 1 Oil on Canvas 24X30 Spring 2014 copy
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Ripton 21 Yelena Fiske Invasion Oil on Canvas 30X36 Spring 2014 copy
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Ripton 10 Christian Muhunde Save Water Color Drawing 16X20 copy
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Ripton 9 Christian Muhunde the couple Acrylic 31.5X31.5 copy
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Ripton 4 Akad Hamad Existentialism is a hope that does not exist Mixed Media 16X20 copy
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Ripton 23 Akad Hamed I have a voice but no one understands my language Mixed Media 31X31
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Ripton 7 Kifah Abdulla Mystery 1 Acrylic on Canvas 48X72 2018 copy
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Ripton 6 Kifah Abdulla Ancient Script Oil on Board 18X18 2018 copy
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Ripton Kifah Abdulla Love Acrylic on paper board 24 x36 copy
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Ripton 3 Rabee Kiwan Seaweed Watercolor on Paper 19x27 copy
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Ripton 2 Rabee Kiwan Immigrant Oil on Cradled Board 11X14 copy
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Ripton 1 Ebenezer Akakpo Time Changes Mixed Media 31X31 2018 copy
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Ripton 20 Mei Selvage Air 4 in Series of 5 Mixed Media 4X8 Accordian Book and 6 Diameter Embroidery Hoop 2017 copy
Jean Medard Zulu, unnamed 2, Mixed Media, 20X30
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Ripton 11 Burcin Kirik Serenity Acrylic 19X24 2018 copy
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Ripton 19 Makumbundo Francisco After the Rape Oil on Canvas 30X40 2013 copy
Makumbundo Francisco, Baobab, Oil on Canvas, 24X48, 2015
MY PEOPLE DYING
(Song by AFRiCAN DUNDADA)
my people dying
I’m feeling like a product of war
here I stand while they laugh
cause my people left poor
my childhood memories
had me begging for more
got away from the war
but now I’m worst than before
came here to represent for
my Africans all around the world
gotta stay on my grind though
like poverty right at my door
for all the people out in this world
that got no home
cause they families poor
for all the people
that will never know
what it feels like to be cared for
pray to god
and let it flow
it ain’t all about that money bro
now let us go
look at me
I represent like Rambo
how many people here gotta die
how many mothers here gotta cry
how much more do we sacrifice
before we get to see paradise
It is quiet in Darfur
by Ekhlas Ahmad
It’s quiet in Darfur. It’s not the silence of peace, but it’s the silence of death.
My homes that once carried histories of generations are now burned ashes on the
ground waiting for the wind to blow them to their final destination.
My mothers that were once Leaders of their communities are now used as war
weapons.
My sisters that once had chances to be future leaders are now afraid to see the sun.
So I speak for them.
I speak for the thousand mothers who have been speaking forever but there is no-one
to listen.
I speak for the thousand girls who want to speak but don’t have a voice.
I speak for the thousand children of Darfur because they can only speak in silence.
I speak so they can be heard.
Because I feel their pain.
When I was a little girl I used to cry
but only in silence
never showing my parents my tears
not even my siblings, or peers
because they told us if you showed people your tears, it meant you were afraid
it meant you were weak, it meant you were powerless
Yes I was young, but I knew I wasn’t weak, and I knew I wasn’t powerless
I had and still have a weapon
A Voice
A voice that once it’s heard, demands attention
A voice that doesn’t only speak, but repeats
So I will speak so they can be heard.
Titi de Baccarat
Titi de Baccarat is a painter, sculptor, clothing designer, jeweler, and writer. Dedicated to justice in a hostile political context, he was forced to flee his country, Gabon, with only the wealth of his artistic ability. He has lived in Portland since February 2015, where he works through his African identity and artistic expertise to contribute to the culture of the city. He believes that art rehabilitates love, bringing together people of all countries, backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities.
Kifah Abdulla
Kifah Abdulla is an artist, poet, writer, teacher and activist, born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. The real beginning for Abdulla as an artist started after he returned from eight years as a prisoner of war in Iran from1982-1991. Art became his main professional career. He worked to express his experience of time spent in prison, a theme that is still present in his work. In his current work started in Portland, he uses abstract Arabic letters as an essential element in his work. He is developing his style in the vast space of contemporary art in America. Abdulla has exhibited in Iraq, Jordan, Holland, and Portland, where he lives and works.. He published his first book of poetry in 2016.
List of Participating Artists*
Kifah Abdulla (Iraq) Poet & Painter
Titi De Baccarat (Gabon) Sculptor & Poet
Anna Mikuskova (Czech Republic) Photographer
Afshin Mahmoudi (Iran) Photographer & Musician
Ekhlas Ismail Ahmad (Darfur, Sudan) Poet
African Dundada (South Sudan) Musician & Composer
Mei Selvage (China) Painter
Burcin Kirik (Turkey) Painter
Akad Hamed (Iraq) Painter
Sofia Aldinio (Argentina) Photographer
Ebenezer Akakpo (Ghana) Jeweler/Designer
Christian Muhunde (Rwanda) Painter
Makumbundo Franciso (Congo) Painter
Edward Mbikiayi (DRC) Painter
Rabee Kiwan (Lebanon) Painter
Yelena Fiske (Russia) Painter
Sahro Abrahim (Somalia) Designer
Damir Porobic (Former Yugoslavia) Interdisciplinary Artist
Jean Medard Zulu (Congo) Painter
Aymen Khaleel (Iraq) Painter
Performing Artists at April 6th OPENING/Artists’ Reception
Ekhlas Ismail Ahmad (Darfur, Sudan) Poet
Kifah Abdulla (Iraq) Poet
AFRiCAN DUNDADA (South Sudan) Rap Musician/Composer
Jawad Alfatlawi (Iraq) Musician
Mei Selvage (China) Traditional Chinese Ink Block Brushwork
Yves Karubu (Burundi) Drummers/Dancers
Community Resource Leaders Represented
Zoe Sahloul (Lebanon) Activist/Organizer N.E. Arab American Organization
Bereket Bairu (Eritrea) Emergency Teacher/Tutor