The gallery is a small, tight loop of hallways that push visitors up against its walls. A documentary hums softly near the entrance, tender calligraphy decorates the right-hand wall and bright, multicolored mirror shards reflect each viewer’s face from across the way. The graduate students of VPAS 6300, a seminar class about marginalization, exhibited “Art of the Margins: Redefining the Paradigm” in AHT’s gallery space from Oct. 16-18.
The exhibit, led and curated by art history professor Ali Asgar Alibhai and art history graduate student Nida Jaffer, depicted the power dynamics of marginalized communities against a privileged and authoritative society and the need for inclusivity. The artists were present to explain their pieces to gallery visitors from 4 to 6 p.m. on opening evening.
The exhibit was designed to have the viewer walk around the edges of the space with no one artwork taking the center. Jaffer said the effect was intentional, pushing the viewer into the margins of the exhibit much like the marginalized communities shown in the students’ artwork.
“The theme of the class is looking at social marginalization and their project was to create something that was in the theme of the class,” Jaffer said. “We didn’t actually get to see [the students’ pieces] until two days ago, when we were installing. It was a nice surprise, and we loved all of them.”
Jaffer collaborated with Alibhai to create a sculpture for the exhibit: a stainless-steel sphere with a ribbon wrapped around it as if it were unravelling, bunched up on a wooden base. The ribbon, suspended on wire from the ceiling, represents how different communities and cultures interact with the dominant, uniform culture.
“If you look [at] the box, [it] sort of represents the paradigm set by the center — the cultures that try to conform to it. And when you look into the mirror [of the steel sphere], [it] distorts the self,” Jaffer said. “What we wanted to highlight is [the] intrinsic value within the cultures that are marginalized, so they don’t need to be comparable.”
Amine Faali, visual and performance arts Ph.D. student, presented an 11-minute short documentary following Samone Brown, assistant dean at University of North Texas, and professional counselor Stacia Alexander on their first-ever trip to Morocco. Brown, who is also a film producer, had shared with Faali that she wanted to go on a trip to Africa, where her ancestors are from. Faali, who is from Morocco, devised a plan for Brown, Alexander and their daughters to visit Morocco and experience the culture.
“I realized that this trip for them to Africa is not only a personal thing, but it’s also political,” Faali said. “Because they talk about how they used to have a very narrow view about other people, other cultures, but now that they are in Africa, they have a different perspective. It makes them feel and [gives] everyone who steps outside from their culture and the things that they’re familiar with … more appreciation about life.”
In the documentary, both Brown and Alexander said their trip to Morocco reaffirmed their commitment to travel more to expand their worldview. Brown said travelling to Morocco made her realize how connected all people are despite their differences. Echoing her sentiments, Faali said the goal of the film was to show how all people all the same no matter where they come from.
“The idea was just to capture moments of fresh life, moments of cultural details, moments of joy and happiness, because those moments tend to be blank pages in history,” Faali said. “I want viewers to know that we all need to distance ourselves from the things we’re comfortable with and familiar with, whether that’s language, friends, people, food … it gives us more appreciation of life, of the humanity that exists in the world, and I think we’ll start seeing the beautiful things that make us humans.”
Farzana Razzaque, visual and performance arts Ph.D. student, presented a gold geometric grid with Arabic words calligraphed in the Jali Diwani script. Words such as “core” and “erasure” were arranged around a gold hexagon embodying tension, division and the dual nature of societal roles with its sharp and smooth edges. Razzaque said that regardless of where a word falls within the grid, it deserves an honorable place in society.
“I use the flowy nature of this script to interpret the words that my classmates thought for [the prompts] ‘margin’ and ‘center,’” Razzaque said. “Each of [these words] has their entity or personality … and they are placed very strategically in this format where the ones in the center represent the words that are powerful, in control. The ones in the peripheries are the ones that are marginalized.”
The graduate exhibit embraces diverse perspectives and encourages inclusivity through art forms that are often excluded from mainstream narratives. Jaffer hopes viewers will take away a new perspective on how they conform to society and participate in marginalizing different communities.
“I hope that they come out with a new view of their values, or a reframing [of] their perspective and their standards of community,” Jaffer said.
The exhibit ran from Oct. 16-18 in ATC 3.102 and included works by Kyul Kang, Mahdi Dolatyan, Rachel Finkelstein, Emily Garcia, Fatemeh Baigmoradi, Joseph Harper, Shahreen Mallik, Iris Wu, Anika Sultana and Maria Shaikh.
One Comment
Salaam! In a world where conformity often overshadows creativity, the graduate students’ exhibition, “Forced to Walk Through the Margins,” stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration. *The courage and vision of Professor Ali Asghar Alibai and Sister Neda Jafar to challenge and decenter social norms is nothing short of extraordinary*. *Their work not only enriches our cultural landscape but also serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of art*.
We are incredibly fortunate to have *such talented Ambassadors within our group and our community*, *who are not only building our image but also fostering a space where diverse voices and perspectives can thrive. Now, more than ever, we need these trailblazers to lead the way, to inspire us, and to remind us of the beauty and strength found in our differences*.
We deeply admire and appreciate all the presenters for their diverse contributions, which have truly beautified and enriched the exhibit.