About Her Story Is
Our Story:
In fall 2017, four U.S. women artists and four Iraqi women artists began communicating via Skype, email, and blogging about their art, their lives, and the relation of their art and lives to their countries and the world. The artists included Jennifer Jean, Anne Loyer, Amy Merrill, Hana’ Ahmed Mohammed, Mary Mohsen, Thaira Al Mayyahi, Lillie Paquette, and others. The workshop and exchanges were supported by the creative contributions and translation of scholar and writer Nadia Sekran, playwright Amir Al Azraki, and filmmaker Dina Fadil.
That December, seven of these artists and three translators met in Dubai, a location accessible to all. Over five days, each participant offered a workshop and told her personal story. At this face-to-face encounter among women from two countries divided by war and geography, the participants laughed and cried a lot. All felt that the face-to-face meetings and the experience of discovering common and divergent experiences, was an invaluable step in building new relationships as individuals and artists between two countries separated by war and geography.
After the artists and coordinators left Dubai, they reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the relationships and laying the groundwork for a series of collaborative projects in both countries. Since then, teams creating specific works have met regularly. Women artists in both countries have continued to participate via emails, Facebook posts, Skype and What’s App calls. They have prepared public exhibits and performances, undertaken new initiatives, and engaged in other projects growing out of the collaborative work.