How has the refugee crisis and immigration affected and influenced the cultural landscape of the region? Join Searching for Home curator Jennifer-Navva Milliken and a diverse panel of leaders active in the, arts, arts activism, and resettlement services, for a lively discussion on these topics.
Participants: Humaira Abid, Laila Kazmi, Mayumi Tsutakawa, Rita Zawaideh
Moderator: Jennifer-Navva Milliken
Members: Free | Nonmembers: $5
Humaira Abid was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. She immigrated to the United States in 2008, and now lives and works in Seattle, WA. She received her BFA in sculpture and miniature painting from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2000. She has exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, with solo gallery exhibitions in Pakistan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Her work has been published in books and other print media, and she has been the recipient of prestigious awards and grants. She has lectured widely and participated in residencies and symposia around the world. In 2016, Abid and her work were the subject of a documentary feature produced by the KCTS9 branch of PBS, which was nominated for a Northwest Emmy Award. She is represented by ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle. Searching for Home is Abid’s first solo exhibition in a museum.
Laila Kazmi is a Northwest Emmy award-winning senior producer and writer at KCTS 9. Her first love is discovering and telling stories of diverse people, places, and history. She has lived in Karachi, Bahrain, Chicago, and Seattle. At KCTS 9, Laila produces the series Borders & Heritage, featuring stories of immigrant and refugee experiences in the Pacific Northwest and has produced Reel NW, featuring independent films from and about the Pacific Northwest. Her video-stories have appeared on KCTS 9, PBS NewsHour Art Beat, World Channel at WGBH, and KPBS in San Diego. Her articles have been published in PBS NewsHour Art Beat, The Seattle Times, Seattle PI, COLORLINES, and Pakistan’s daily Dawn. Laila has a Master of Communication from the University of Washington.
Mayumi Tsutakawa is an independent writer and editor. She is a Humanities Washington speaker and presents the 100-year history of Japanese Americans, and her artistic family, across our state. She also currently writes about the arts and communities of color for Crosscut, Seattle Globalist, The International Examiner, and Earshot Jazz Magazine. She co-edited The Forbidden Stitch: Asian American Women's Literary Anthology, which received the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. She formerly directed the grants program for the Washington State Arts Commission.
Rita is an international business owner and certified travel counselor, and the founding director of Salaam Cultural Museum (SCM), a Seattle-based NGO that organizes medical teams to travel to Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and Greece. SCM also collects clothing, medical supplies, and furniture for distribution in these refugee camps and to refugees who have relocated to Washington State. A successful business owner, Rita’s passion is serving those in need and educating the public about the Middle East and North Africa, particularly their cultures. She founded Arab Film Distribution and Salaam Cultural Museum and frequently lectures to schools, organizations, business and travel groups. After the 9-11 attacks in 2001, she founded the Arab-American Community Coalition of Seattle to provide support to Arabs who experienced discrimination and hate-crimes. She works with the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Housing Office, and the US Office of Civil Rights, and trains crisis-line workers for the US Department of Justice on cultural sensitivity issues. She is also a member of the Arab-American Institute, which works to educate the Arab communities about politics and candidates. She is also a Board Member of El Centro de la Raza, the America Research Center for Egypt (ARCE), and Near East Language and Culture (NELC) center at the University of Washington.
Ms. Zawaideh immigrated to Seattle from Jordan at an early age. She completed her formal education here, including a B.A. degree from the University of Washington.
Jennifer-Navva Milliken is a curator and writer whose work is inspired by the objects with which we live and the hands, tools, and ideas that shape them. Her exhibitions have been presented in museums, art fairs, galleries, and unconventional spaces, and her writings have appeared in exhibition catalogues, anthologies, and publications that investigate and critique the intersecting fields of art, craft, and design. With a uniquely global perspective, honed through a life split between two continents, she is driven by the extraordinary power of the arts to challenge preconceptions and bridge divides. Her approach was honed during her work as an embedded staff member at renowned arts institutions, among them The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, and as founder of her own interdisciplinary art space. Most recently, she served as Curator of Craft at Bellevue Arts Museum. Milliken, who studied at Western Washington University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, lives in New York and Tel Aviv.