On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh talked to Wassan Al-Khudhairi, chief curator of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) about an orchestrated performance by Iraqi-born artist and refugee Hayv Kahraman.
The act, “Gendering Memories of Iraq,” reflects on concepts of diaspora, immigration, and community. The performance is organized in four sections and will feature local performers Nancy Bell, Layla Goushey, Parvuna Sulaiman, Sahara “Sista SOLS” Scott and Yin Xiong.
The performers will enact stories of Kahraman’s experience as a refugee. But Al-Khudhairi said the theme is not just central to Iraqi refugees.
“It’s not specifically about an Iraqi refugee, but that all refugees share this sort of same consciousness,” Al-Khudhairi said. “…This sense of a loss of land and the sense of this destruction to the physical body.”
Al-Khudhairi curated Kahraman’s first solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Al-Khudhairi said she came across Kahraman and her work 10 years ago in the Middle East.
“I feel honored that she was open to working with me and wanting to present that to the St. Louis community,” Al-Khudhairi said. “Acts of Reparations” is on display through Dec. 31.
Listen below to Al-Khudhairi detail Kahraman’s orchestrated performance as well as Al-Khudhairi’s own career:
Related Event:
What:Performance: “Gendering Memories of Iraq”
When: Nov. 29, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
*Event is free but online registration is required.
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