Cultural round-up: Stories for refugee children

A storybook for refugee children:

ElevatED, a student group at NYU Abu Dhabi has released a book for children, titled ‘Where is our Home?’

Written and illustrated by the students, the bilingual English/Arabic book discusses migration, portraying home as a place where love exists, and celebrates the unity of humanity and the diversity of our planet.

Through Jordanian NGO, We Love Reading, the book will be distributed to thousands of refugee and underprivileged children in Jordan.

The book was selected for presentations at the World Literacy Summit 2020 and the Comparative and International Education Society Conference 2020: Education Beyond the Human held online this month. Students involved in the project included Sara Pan Algarra, Ian Bryce Hoyt, Malak Abdel-Ghaffar, Davit Jintcharadze, Alex Markova, Jude Al Sharif, María José Alonso Rivera, Tom Joseph Abi Samra, Mai Awamleh, Claudia Gabriela Neumann Vallejo, Ivona Feldmarova, and Mirela Valentinova Minkova. They were guided by faculty members Khulood Kittaneh and Leigh Llewellyn Graham.

Unlocking creativity:

Dubai-based Lebanese artist Kristel Bechara has created a new series titled ‘Superheroes’ to motivate and inspire herself and the community to be strong and positive during the current lockdown. She has combined digital photographic imagery, oil and acrylic painting and giclée printmaking to create vibrant artworks depicting popular Marvel, DC, Star Wars and other characters such as Wonderwoman, Superman, Batman and Captain America to represent bravery, conscience, and victory of good over evil.

Art Jameel’s open call for digital art:

Art Jameel has expanded the third edition of its Commissions programme to include a new iteration, Art Jameel Commissions: Digital and issued an open call inviting proposals by June 10 for a digital project or artwork that engages with the theme of Time. The Commission is open to artists from or based in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, and artists who have a connection with the cultural scenes across this region. The winner will receive a prize of USD 7,500, a dedicated budget for production, curatorial support, and mentorship by technical experts from MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab.

Calling all photographers:

Sharjah Art Foundation is inviting established and emerging photographers from around the world to submit entries for the eighth edition of its annual photography exhibition, Vantage Point Sharjah. The deadline is May 16 and applicants are free to choose their own theme and artistic approach.