Authentic Hybrids
Features Art Created by Artists of
Dual Cultural
and Racial Heritage
October 3 - November 2
Authentic Hybrids is a group exhibit featuring artists and poets of dual racial and cultural heritage. The show is the brainchild of Amirra Malak, curator and participating artist in the show, who is of mixed Egyptian and Caucasian American heritage.
Malak came up with the title as a way to describe the ambiguity inherent in being raised in two cultures, never fully one or the other, always in between.
'Authentic hybrids have a unique perspective to share in a time when cultures are in conflict in the global community, ' notes Amirra.
(Image above is a mixed media work created for the show by artist Amirra Malak)
Artists and writers in this show represent a wide range of mixed races and cultures and work with a wide range of media as well.
Participating Artists
Participating artists and and their art styles follows:
- Hood River artist Amirra Malak, an Egyptian American, incorporates Egyptian appliqué patterns and Arabic calligraphy into acrylic paintings.
- Snowden artist Taina Hartman, a Korean American, is known for her exquisite jewelry but will be working in a variety of media in work created exclusively for this show.
- Klickitat artists Rebecca Bashara, a Lebanese American, and Scott Mcdonald, a Peruvian American, often collaborate on their metal smithing pieces and have created new mixed media and conceptual art pieces based on the authentic hybrid theme.
- Yasmin Acosta-Myers, a Mexican American artist, works with mixed media on a two-dimensional surface.
Participating Writers
Poetry will be displayed along side artwork.
- Naomi Shihab Nye is a well known Palestinian American author and will display a poem which inspired one of Amirra Malak’s paintings in the exhibit.
- Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, an East-Indian American poet and English professor at Linfield College, will display poems with uncanny connections to much of the imagery in the exhibit.
The exhibit will offer a unique opportunity to reflect upon the issues of culture and identity in contemporary America.
Opening Reception
The public is invited to the opening reception Friday, October 3rd from 6-8 pm. International appetizers will be served. The featured artists will be present to discuss their artwork.
For more information, please call Columbia Center for the Arts at 541.387.8877. We are open everyday from 11am-6pm through September. Winter hours resume October 1 (Wednesday - Sunday, 11 am - 5 pm).