Homeland inSecurity: A Talk with Artist Mohamad Hafez

A Presentation by Artist & Architect Mohamad Hafez.

New Haven–based Syrian artist and architect Mohamad Hafez dynamically reproduces the war-torn landscapes of contemporary Syria in his sculptural artworks, which urgently reflect on the conditions of forced migration that informed his family’s relocations. Hafez’s artistic practice and public voice complicate the representation of contemporary violence by insisting on the entangled relationships between home and homeland, refuge and security, and art and politics.

Syrian artist and architect Mohamad Hafez will offer a very personal view of what it's like for an upper-middle class Damascene family to become forced migrants - their lives before and after, decision points, forced hands, and adjustment to new realities. This will be an opportunity to better understand what the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II looks like to an individual and family who have been through it. Mr. Hafez creates mixed and multi-media sculptures representing Middle Eastern streetscapes and buildings besieged by civil war, deliberately contrasted with hopeful verses from the Quran, audio recordings from his homeland, and other elements of his Islamic heritage.

www.mohamadhafez.com

Program:

Presentation: 4:30-5:50pm - Keller 1022

Reception: 5:30-7:00pm - Cafe Space

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/homeland-insecurity-a-talk-with-artist-mohamad-hafez-tickets-60791639430ation.