School of Art Newsletter Fall 07 vol. 2 issue 1

NOW: Professor Sama Alshaibi

Sama Alshaibi’s work negotiates the shifts between personal and family history. She describes her art as being “fueled by a complex personal history involving my continual migration through the Middle East and America.”  Alshaibi, an Iraqi exile and an American citizen, explores in her work the complex ideas of identity and identification with place in an attempt to create “a bridge to not only Middle Eastern culture, but also other cultures that populate our world.” 

In addition to photography, installation, metal work, performance and collaborative interactive media projects, Alshaibi has made numerous time-based works, including a documentary titled Where the Birds Fly, in which she chronicles her journey 'back' to her maternal homeland of Palestine.

Alshaibi was recently published in the photographic journal, Nueva Luz, which featured commentary and a spread from her 2004 series Birthright; Palestinian Women Artists, The Land=The Body=The Narrative, which sheds light on the rich production of Palestinian women artists; and the exhibition catalogue We Make the Road by Walking, printed in conjunction with the two person exhibition at the Mizel Museum, in Denver, CO. Her video, All I Want For Christmas, will be screened in November 2007 at the CinemaEast Film Festival in New York City. Alshaibi was also awarded this year’s Beyond the Call of Duty Award, by The University of Arizona, College of Fine Arts and the Feminist Review Trust Award, by Feminist Review Trust, London for her exhibition Secrets.