Khalil Abdulkhabir Presents His Islamic Photo Collection

Selections From the Dar-ul-Islam Historical Photographic Collection by Khalil Abdulkhabir features photographs documenting the Dar-ul-Islam movement in Brooklyn in the 1970's and early 1980's. The exhibition will be on view in the Corridor Gallery now through March 7th, 2009. Khalil Abdulkhabir will give a gallery talk on Saturday, February 21st at 2:00 p.m. at CFAC.

The Dar-ul-Islam movement (1962-1983) was a grassroots movement that began in Brooklyn, New York and eventually grew to over forty branches in the United States, Canada and Trinidad. Its purpose was to empower indigenous American Muslims. The goal of the Dar was to establish a fully functioning community complete with schools, places of worship and a governing body.

Syracuse photographer Khalil Abdulkhabir was born in Brooklyn, New York. He credits photographers from the Kamoinge workshop, created by Roy DeCarava, as being particularly important in his artistic development. Recently, Abdulkhabir has begun archiving images of the Dar that he took between 1970 and 1983 as well as those taken by other photographers during the same time period. For the initial phase of this project, Abdulkhabir has chosen to exhibit his own works.

Of the project, Abdulkhabir says, "My work is a collection of photos that depict a facet of my life as a Muslim in the 1970's in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. It presents the viewer an inside-out view of the people, activities, and experiences of the Dar-ul-Islam Movement. This allows the viewer who is not familiar with the Islamic experience to expand his knowledge of this group and Muslims, and for the Muslim too, who hopefully, will positively identify with the subject matter."

COMMUNITY FOLK ART CENTER
805 East Genesee Street Syracuse, New York 13210
Phone 315.442.2230 Email: cfac@syr.edu
URL: www.communityfolkartcenter.org

CONTEMPORARY CRAFT MASTERS

January 17th to March 7th, 2009, Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) will exhibit the work of three artists whose works were featured on HGTV's Modern Masters: African American Artisans Program in 2003. Featured artists include, Espi Frazier, Hermon Futrell and David MacDonald.

These artists are at the forefront of contemporary crafts and reflect the diverse and innovative palette of today's artists.
Espi Frazier releases from her wooden canvas graceful female forms. Her mahogany figures reside amongst deftly carved undulating vines, flowers or roots. Each panel invites the viewer into a discourse about femininity, beauty and nature. Frazier reflecting on her work stated, "Every piece of art that I create expresses me wholly as an African-American woman. I wish to convey Black womanhood and family in its greater beauty, spirituality and raw essence.

Hermon Futrell coaxes spare willow limbs into organic furniture pieces that reveal a hint of the artist's early architectural training. Each Adirondack rustic throne announces its presence in the space with brightly painted surfaces of green, red or yellow. It is the natural, simple and functional that are most earnestly celebrated in these works.

Professor David MacDonald is one of this country's most highly regarded African American ceramic artists. MacDonald creates a wide variety of work including vessels for daily use and one-of-a- kind pieces for exhibition. His earth-tone vessels bear rhythmic valleys, which pay homage to the surface decorations that are found in many cultural groups of sub-Saharan Africa.

GALLERY HOURS
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Friday: 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.
Saturday: 11:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.
Sunday: Closed

FILM SCREENING
Beautiful Me(s)

Date: February 19, 2009
Performance: Hiram Jiminez
Time: 6:30p.m.

Screening: Beautiful Me(s)
Film Director: Robin J. Hayes
Screening Time: 7:00p.m.
Run: 30 min.
Language: English

Panel Discussion: 7:30p.m.
Panelists: Jose Miguel Hernandez, Hiram Jiminez
Community Folk Art Center and The Casita Cultural Center Project is pleased to announce a celebration of African Latino American history and culture. This TH3 CFAC is offering a special performance by Afro- Cuban percussionist Hiram Jiminez at 6:30p.m. The performance will be followed by a screening of the documentary Beautiful Me(s) by director Robin J. Hayes at 7:00p.m. and a panel discussion with special guests Jose Miguel Hernandez and Hiram Jiminez at 7:30p.m.

BEAUTIFUL ME(S) is the true story of unlikely Yale graduates calling themselves the Black Resistance Group, who embark on a journey to Cuba in search of solidarity and revolutionary roots. Using borrowed video cameras they document their interactions with Cuban artists, intellectuals, musicians and ordinary people. To the incredible mix of Afro-Cuban music in the streets of Havana, the students uncover the profound connection Cubans feel to Africa and African Americans, debunking much of the misrepresentation of Cuba propagated in American media. The students discover a cultural legacy rich with revolutionary change driven by the love and hope of the people. Cuba's deep sense of unity and equality encourages the students to renew their commitment in the resistance against racism.

ROBIN J. HAYES - PRODUCER/DIRECTOR is a scholar and filmmaker who was the first person at Yale University to earn a combined doctorate in African American Studies and Political Science. After completing her bachelor's degree at New York University with honors, she supervised a legal clinic for homeless families at the Urban Justice Center and facilitated human rights delegations and aid shipments to Cuba and Chiapas, Mexico as a national coordinator of the Interreligious Foundation. Hayes is currently an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies and Political Science at Santa Clara University and resides in Oakland, California.

THE CASITA CULTURAL CENTER PROJECT is an initiative affiliated with the Latino-Latin American Studies Program in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Science. The Casita Cultural Center Project aims to acknowledge Latino/a populations in Syracuse and to promote their histories, heritages and legacies by creating a space where the University and community will interact dynamically through activities and events that involve music, dance, workshops, a bilingual library, lectures, documentation programs and more.

 

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