Barbara Koenen

Enews 11/14/11 "War Rug Project Update 5"

2011-11-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

Barbara Koenen ::
WAR RUG PROJECT UPDATE 5

The WAR RUG PROJECT began in 2002, when I started recreating Afghan War Rugs as temporary art installations made out of spices. I was inspired both by the inherent tragedy of the war rugs woven in and around Afghanistan, and the sustained optimism of the sand mandalas of Tibetan Buddhists.

Nine versions of the War Rug Project have been made since, with the most recent beginning this past September 2 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM), in conjunction with the Art Prize competition. On Sunday, October 9, Tim and I completed the installation by pulling three monoprints of the spices...

Printing

Spreading acrylic medium on the canvas, October 9, 2011

Like the previous eight War Rug Project installations, this was a recreation of an Afghan war rug that I found listed for sale on Ebay. "Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" was the first post-9/11 war rug in the series. All the earlier rug installations were based on carpets made in response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

"Twin Towers..." was installed on a platform in the upper gallery of the museum over the course of six days. It was completed on September 11, 2011. The spice installation was on display for the next several weeks, including the 2 weeks of the Art Prize competition. The GRAM was a great venue for the project -- a beautiful museum with a guaranteed audience, thanks to Art Prize, of over 100,000 people!

Here is a quick show of how printing went that last Sunday, starting with the application of clear acrylic gel medium onto sheets of cotton canvas...

photos by Dianne Carroll Burdick unless noted.

Placing

Laying down the canvas for the first print

"Twin Towers..." was made only of loose spices, seeds and colored sugar, carefully placed on a felt mat. It was on display for about 3 weeks. Initially, it was left unrestricted so people could get really close to it. But when the ArtPrize competition got in full swing, stanchions were placed around it so it didn't get destroyed by all the kids who were touching it.

Coincidentally, all their fingerprints do make for a more interesting print...

After we put the clear acrylic gel medium onto a piece of canvas, Tim and I carefully placed it face down on top of the spices...

Rubbing

Rolling and rubbing it down so the spices really stick!

The GRAM provided ample space for the new installation as well as for background material consisting of three spice prints from a previous war rug installation, and several examples of real war rugs. We produced a booklet about the project and a series of business cards that displayed many images from the series. All these together generated lots of questions about the origin of the patterns (carpets woven by Afghanis since the 1970s), the spices used (sesame, ginger, poppy, cumin, oregano, hot red pepper, flour and salt, nutmeg and colored sugar (the blue)), and what keeps it there (gravity!).

Once the gelled-up canvas was placed onto the spices, we began rubbing it thoroughly to make sure that the first layer adhered well.

Revealing

Lifting off the first print.

Carefully lifting it up, you could see the impression take hold. All that color is made from spices, not from paint or pigment. It is embedded into the clear acrylic medium. It is always a surprise to see what happens. And notice how the image is transferred in reverse -- like in a mirror -- which is a bit disconcerting, especially if you are used to the original orientation.

Voila!

Voila!

Here you can see what it looks like. The blank spaces are where the spices had been disturbed. And the smears are especially evident near the top side that I'm holding. Everyone clapped, and we took a little bow.

Drying

All laid out to dry.

We did this three times, making three unique prints, each adhering fewer spices than before. We laid them out to dry for the rest of the afternoon on plastic tarps.

Remains

The last one and what remained on the mat.

Here is what remained of the entire installation -- the ginger powder of the sky, the white flour of the flag and the explosions, some of the poppyseeds and cinnamon. The third print is next to the mat, and you can see how the pattern has dissolved. These last prints are always my favorites -- the pattern becomes abstract and loose.

Three Prints

"Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" edition 1, 2 and 3 of 3.

With apologies for my not-so-hot photography, here you can see the fruits of our labor. Three prints of "Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History."

Starting on the left with the first pull, and gradually disintegrating through the third. Once they are mounted and framed, the final stage will be up to nature and UV radiation. Some of the spices will fade and transform. The blue into clear sugar crystals... the red pepper into a sienna brown... the poppy from blue to a greyish cast. And perhaps some other changes I can't forsee!

And the winner was...

Crucifixion by Mia Tavonatti won first place at Art Prize by popular vote, and the prize of $250,000. Congratulations to her and all the top 10.

Special shout-out to 2nd place winners, Chicagoans Tracy Van Duinen, Todd Osborne, Andrea Bellomo and Phil Schuster for their ambitious mosaic mural, Metaphorest. It is nice for Grand Rapids to have several examples of their work throughout the city, as it is for us Chicagoans to have some too.

photo by David Guthrie, licensed Creative Commons on Flickr

Heartfelt Thanks!

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has emailed, donated, visited, and shared this project with their friends. It has been a tremendous experience -- because of you!

Alpha Bruton :: Julie Banzhaf Stone :: Robert J. Tassone :: Chuck Thurow :: William Zbaren and Robert Sharoff :: Delphine Cannon :: Katharine Banzhaf :: Beverly Koenen (thanks Mom!) :: Duane Fimreite :: Janet Carl Smith :: Pat Casler :: Alicia Berg :: Michelle Boone :: Deborah and Glenn Doering :: Carrie Hanson :: Jackie Kazarian :: Pooja Vukosavich :: Chris Gent :: Shirley Patton :: Kristin Dean :: Kristin Patton :: Carolina Jayaram :: Laura Samson :: Esther Grimm :: Karen Paluzzi Steele :: Carol Reisinger :: Dr. David Hinkamp :: Marguerite Horberg :: Dianna Frid :: Annie Morse :: Doug VanderHoof :: Neiman Brothers :: Tim Samuelson :: Alison Neidt Toonen :: Lynn Basa :: Mary Wittig :: John Vinci :: Jane Bretl :: Iain Muirhead :: Adam Brooks :: Deborah Boardman :: Lisa Roberts :: Rob + Elizabeth, Samantha, Daniel and Max!! and several anonymous donors. You are all terrific!!

We have 7 days to raise $35 more dollars (!!) to get the whole $5,000 needed for this phase of the project. I am working on the gifts now and excited to be putting together some lovely overviews of the project for all its supporters. If you'd still like to help out, click here to learn more.

Here is a link to my website, where you can see photos of this project and others from the series, as well as paintings and more artwork.

Let me know if you'd like to do a studio visit to see the prints and rugs in person. It would be delightful to show them to you. koenen@gmail.com

You are receiving this newsletter from artist Barbara Koenen because I thought you might be interested in my artwork.
If that is incorrect, my apologies and please unsubscribe at the link below. Thank you!

Making the Olive Branch, September 8, 2011

Enews 10/14/11 "War Rug Project Update 4"

2011-11-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

Barbara Koenen ::
WAR RUG PROJECT UPDATE 4

Making + Talking

Competing

Distress

Revelation

Thanks

Remembering

The WAR RUG PROJECT @ the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) runs through October 9, 2011.

Join us Oct 9 :: War Rug Printmaking Sunday 2 pm @ the GRAM

Making + Talking

Making + Talking, Sept 10, 2011

"Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" was completed on the morning of Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. The finishing touch was to place the firecracker fringe that Tim made underneath.

Made only of loose spices, seeds and colored sugar, the installation took about six days to construct. It replicates a 9/11 war rug I purchased on Ebay a few months ago, and its title comes from the real rug's Ebay listing. I find Afghan War Rugs fascinating and tragic, as they are artifacts that reflect the effect of war and strife on a centuries-old tradition, and they are woven by women with little voice in Afghan society.

I was fortunate to be able to build the rug while the museum was open, and had many conversations with people in the process. Lots of questions about the origin of the patterns (carpets woven by Afghanis since the 1970s), the spices used (sesame, ginger, poppy, cumin, oregano, hot red pepper, flour and salt, nutmeg and colored sugar (the blue)), and what keeps it there (gravity!). Did I weave the real carpets? (no, they are my muse). Were they made before September 11, 2001? (no).

The museum staff and security guards were wonderful, enthusiastic, inquisitive and supportive. Also understandably concerned that something would happen to the fragile artwork. They were correct! The first impact happened just minutes before my talk, when a little boy dropped his toy onto it. Oops! But, the imperfection let the rug reveal itself for what it really is... Spices.

We will pull prints of the installation on the last day of the show, Sunday October 9 at 2:00 pm. Join us!

photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick

Competing

Looking, Sept 24, 2011

I originally started this to participate in Art Prize, which I had visited last year. When GRAM selected me, it was a terrific honor. Their exhibit opened in early September, coinciding with eerie perfection to the anniversary of 9/11. Thus, the War Rug Project installation was on view for two weeks before the Art Prize even began on Wednesday, Sept 21.

Art Prize is an open art competition with the public as the judge. It takes place from Sept 21 - Oct 5 and really transforms the city. For two weeks, all of downtown Grand Rapids is crawling with people looking at and talking about art. Museums, corporate atriums, bank lobbies, resturants and pubs, hotels, empty storefronts, schools, churches, bridges, fountains and parking lots are taken over by 1500 artists. The range of work -- subject matter, sophistication, materials, techniques, is all over the map. And the range of people looking as well. From sophisticated afficianados to people who've never set foot in a museum before. Mostly the latter, I suspect. Lots of kids. A snapshot of democracy and an excellent audience for the War Rug Project.

When Tim and I drove in that Friday night, we thought a concert must have just let out because there were so many people on the street. Not so. It was Art Prize. On Saturday, 29,000 people went through the museum.

The GRAM is a beautiful "green" building (see pictures here), the first museum to be environmentally LEED-certified Gold. When it exceeds capacity -- if too many people are in the building (and breathing) -- the carbon dioxide that is exhaled sets off the building's CO2 monitor alarm. Then no one can enter until someone else leaves. That happened several times over the course of the day. Fortunately no one fainted ; )!

Distress

A little schumtz on the upper left corner.

Once ArtPrize was in full swing, I joined many of the other artists who stood by their work and fielded questions. I lasted about a day. It was overwhelming! I decided to just leave the installation be, and trust people to figure it out. Tim had suggested I make some laminated books about the project, so they were available as were labels and a nice video that the museum produced.

I joined my family and toured the city, looking at some of the other artworks. Some of my favorites, Mary Brogger's Persian Rug, Lindsay Obermeyer's Prairie Flowers, Nancy Gildart's Birds, Mike Grucza's Lake St. Lovely, a unique map of America made from cast iron pans, and a Barrel of Monkeys that took over a bridge.

Meanwhile, my rug was left unattended for people to see and smell, to poke and pull. Many people were interested, a few very clearly didn't care for it. A man who was a 9/11 first responder introduced himself, as did a couple who had traveled in Afghanistan in the 1970s. It was fascinating to be able to talk with them.

Then I noticed something I didn't anticipate. I knew the rug would get damaged, and suspected that once the distress reached a certain point, people would recognize it was not a real rug, and was fragile, and wouldn't touch it. That proved to be the case... except for little kids. They had no idea and were often much quicker than their parents.

But what really surprised me was how many people blamed the museum for not taking care of the artwork. I probably should have known that would happen, but I assumed that people would understand ephemeral art. Maybe they'd seen a Buddhist sand mandala before. Certainly the GRAM staff really wanted to protect it, and only reluctantly indulged my desire that it remain unfettered. But people were upset, and several complained. What with that, and the kids, after a week, I decided to have the stanchions put back in place. I am sure everyone in Security breathed a big sign of relief. (Hopefully not setting off any CO2 alarms...!)

photo by Peter Koenen

Revelation

More schmutz on the lower left. (Nice fringe, eh?)

A friend once described the distresses that a war rug installation endures as letting the rug "reveal itself."

You can see the day-by-day progress here. And read about the 9/11 rugs here.

So, I didn't make the Top Ten at Art Prize. I won't be able to quit my job to be a full-time artist, or donate $125,000 to Afghan Women's causes. But it has been a wonderful experience in many, many ways, filled with family, friends, and perfect strangers who become friends. Artists and the rest of us, figuring out what it all means.

Join us on Sunday if you can as we pull three prints of the spice installation, destroying and preserving it at the same time. 2:00 pm. Or, wait for the next e-newsletter for the play-by-play. And hopefully a video from my niece Samantha, who has been interviewing visitors for her class project. And more photos by Dianne and Rob Burdick and John Corriveau.

photo by Peter Koenen

Thanks

Heartfelt thanks go to the friends of the War Rug Project. Your support makes a huge difference -- spiritually and financially. I could not do this without you!

Alpha Bruton :: Julie Banzhaf Stone :: Robert J. Tassone :: Chuck Thurow :: William Zbaren and Robert Sharoff :: Delphine Cannon :: Katharine Banzhaf :: Beverly Koenen (thanks Mom!) :: Duane Fimreite :: Janet Carl Smith :: Pat Casler :: Alicia Berg :: Michelle Boone :: Deborah and Glenn Doering :: Carrie Hanson :: Anonymous :: Jackie Kazarian :: Pooja Vukosavich :: Chris Gent :: Shirley Patton :: Kristin Dean :: Kristin Patton :: Carolina Jayaram :: Laura Samson :: Esther Grimm :: Karen Paluzzi Steele :: Carol Reisinger :: Dr. David Hinkamp :: Marguerite Horberg :: Dianna Frid :: :: Annie Morse :: Doug VanderHoof :: Neiman Brothers :: Tim Samuelson :: Alison Neidt Toonen :: Lynn Basa :: Mary Wittig :: John Vinci :: Jane Bretl :: Iain Muirhead :: Adam Brooks :: Deborah Boardman :: Lisa Roberts :: and several anonymous donors. You are all terrific!

Special thanks to Samantha, Max and Daniel Koenen, who have been wonderful hosts to their Aunt. And to Elizabeth, who is an amazing mom to them and sister in law to me. My little brother Rob, their dad and captain of the ship. And of course Tim, my love and sweetheart.

I think we've raised the whole $5,000 needed for this phase of the project, but am still reconciling the Indie Gogo website with other contributions. Will start on gifts soon. If you'd still like to help out, click here to learn more. Heartfelt thanks to everyone!!

Remembering

Bob Cassilly (red) and Tim (blue) walking through Cementland last Fall.

On a sadder note, our friend the visionary artist Bob Cassilly died last week. He was found in a bulldozer that had rolled on the grounds of his quixotic endeavor, Cementland. With Bob, though, what might seem quixotic to us would be completely realizable. Case in point, the City Museum, his masterwork in downtown St. Louis...

Picture an old shoe factory that bursts at the seams with tunnels, dragons, pipe organs, 7-story jungle gyms, 10-story slides, ferris wheels and a cantilevered school bus teetering over the edge of the roof. Add a Circus, a Thrift Store, an architecture museum. Two Aquariums. The world's largest No. 2 pencil. Great pizza and a bar in an old log cabin. What a wonderful place.

Bob's obituary in the New York Times, and our photos of Cementland from a visit last fall.

Thanks, Bob, for sharing your wonder.

You are receiving this newsletter from artist Barbara Koenen because I thought you might be interested in my artwork. If that is incorrect, my apologies and please unsubscribe at the link below. Thank you!

photo by John Corriveau

Enews 09/18/11 War Rug Project Update 3

2011-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

Barbara Koenen ::
WAR RUG PROJECT UPDATE 3

Making

Finishing

Interest

Art Prize

Remembering

Thanks

The WAR RUG PROJECT @ the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) runs through October 9, 2011 .

Art Prize runs from Sept. 21 - Oct 5. Vote for me # 41731 during the first week.

Exhibition ends with a print pull on Sunday October 9 at 2 pm.

Making

The War Rug Project installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) is comprised of 3 framed monoprints of the Silk Road War Rug monoprints from 2006 (right), three original war rugs (left), a book, cards and the newly made 9/11 War Rug on a platform. Two of the original rugs are 9/11 war rugs, and one dates from the Soviet occupation in the early 1980s. That carpet is the larger one on the right, and it was the inspiration for the Silk Road prints. Oh yes, and that's me in the middle, working away with the spices.

It was surprisingly moving to methodically render the twin towers, their windows, the jets and explosions in spices. It was a relief to make the flags and peace dove, with their big flat planes of color. And especially liberating to be able to make the aircraft carrier and the jets queuing up, all of which seemed quite free-form.

Of course I wondered what the weavers thought about the images they were slowly making. The explosions have become flattened and abstracted and the words, originally in English describing the events of 9/11, are long obliterated, as the pattern has been repeated for a decade by weavers who could never read them in the first place.

You can see the day-by-day progress here. And read about the 9/11 rugs here.

photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick.

Finishing

The completed spice installation, Sept 11, 2011

"Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" was completed on the morning of Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. It is named after the title of the original war rug's Ebay listing.

The spice installation took about 6 days to make, and It was great to be able to build it while the museum was open, and have many conversations with people while I was making it. Lots of questions about the origin of the patterns, the spices used (the blue is colored sugar), how the prints are made, and what keeps it there (gravity!). The finishing touch was to place the firecracker fringe border that Tim made underneath.

Wonderful enthusiasm from the security staff, who are now very concerned that something will happen to the artwork. They are correct! I was there for the first impact, when a little boy dropped his toy onto it. Oops! But, the imperfection lets the rug reveal itself for what it really is. Spices.

We will pull prints of the installation on the last day of the show, Sunday October 9 at 2:00 pm. Join us!

photo by John Corriveau

Interest

Demonstrating the popper firecrackers on the fringe for reporter Tori Pelz.

So many family and friends made their way to the GRAM on Sunday, September 11 for my artist talk -- it was wonderful to be surrounded by people we love on that day. My talk went well (from what I hear) as did that of my colleague, the painter David Gillanders. Thanks to curator Cindy Buckner, who combined us as artists who use war as a springboard for philosophical and aesthetic investigations.

Here are several articles and interviews about the project that you might enjoy:

Fragrant Re-imagining of Afghan War Rugs: An Interview with artist Barbara Koenen
by Tori Pelz, a reporter for the Rapidian who actually spent 6 months in Afghanistan in 2004. She interviewed me after my artist talk on 9/11, and I hope to return the favor soon.

On the local news -- WZZM

The GRAM video

photo by Jonathon Timothy Stoner

Art Prize

Art Prize is an open art competition and the public is the judge. It takes place from Sept 21 - Oct 5 throughout downtown Grand Rapids, and really transforms the city.

The first week has voting for all the artists (thumbs up or down), and the second week is just the top 10. Voting is free, but all voters must register in person (so you can see the art in person!). The Art Prize website has info about places to stay, artist, venues, voting and more. Here is a schedule of events, in case you are able to come up to Grand Rapids.

When I went last year I was amazed to see thousands of people walking all over downtown GR, and every one was looking at and talking about art. It is a phenomenal experience and fun for the whole family! If you come, let me know and we can try to connect (I'll be there on weekends.) And if you want to vote for me, I'm # 41731.

Sept 21 - 28 :: Art Prize Round One Voting
Sept 29 - Oct 5 :: Art Prize Top Ten Voting
Oct 6 :: Art Prize Winner Announced
Oct 9 :: War Rug Destruction / Printmaking 2 pm @ the GRAM
Oct 9 :: Last Day of GRAM exhibition

Remembering

September 11, 2011 came and went, and it was good to participate in such a wide spectrum of remembrance. A number of people made a point of coming to the museum to see the 9/11 rug. Veterans, families, even scouts! The War Rug Project helps create a space for contemplation and inclusiveness, ambiguity and complexity.

Bear in mind the conservative estimation that between 12,000 and 14,000 Afghan civilians have been killed since 2001. They are killed by crossfire, improvised explosive devices, assassination, bombing, and night raids into houses of suspected insurgents. Unexploded ordnance from previous wars and from U.S. cluster bombs continue to kill after the fighting stops.

As we remember 9/11, let's mourn for all the victims, and work together to make a real and lasting peace. And if you'd like to help, consider supporting one of these fine organizations.

photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick

Thanks

Heartfelt thanks go to the friends of the War Rug Project. Your support makes a huge difference -- spiritually and financially. I could not do this without you!

Julie Banzhaf Stone :: Robert J. Tassone :: Chuck Thurow :: William Zbaren and Robert Sharoff :: Delphine Cannon :: Katharine Banzhaf :: Beverly Koenen (thanks Mom!) :: Duane Fimreite :: Janet Carl Smith :: Pat Casler :: Alicia Berg :: Michelle Boone :: Deborah and Glenn Doering :: Carrie Hanson :: Anonymous :: Jackie Kazarian :: Pooja Vukosavich :: Chris Gent :: Shirley Patton :: Kristin Dean :: Kristin Patton :: Carolina Jayaram :: Laura Samson :: Esther Grimm :: Karen Paluzzi Steele :: Carol Reisinger :: Dr. David Hinkamp :: Marguerite Horberg :: Dianna Frid :: :: Annie Morse :: Doug VanderHoof :: Neiman Brothers :: Tim Samuelson :: Alison Neidt Toonen :: Lynn Basa :: Mary Wittig :: John Vinci :: Jane Bretl :: Iain Muirhead :: Adam Brooks :: several anonymous donors!!

Special thanks to Samantha, Max and Daniel Koenen, who have been wonderful hosts to their Aunt. And to Elizabeth, who is an amazing mom to them and sister in law to me. And my little brother Rob, the captain of the ship. And of course Tim, my love and sweetheart.

You are receiving this newsletter from artist Barbara Koenen because I thought you might be interested in my artwork. If that is incorrect, my apologies and please unsubscribe at the link below. Thank you!

Enews 09/09/11 War Rug Project Update 2

2011-11-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

Barbara Koenen ::
WAR RUG PROJECT UPDATE 2

Progress

Support

Schedule of Events :: Exhibition, Artist Talk and Art Prize

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now, Pt. 2

Remembering 9/11

Heartfelt Thanks!

The WAR RUG PROJECT runs through October 9, 2011 @ the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM).

Progress

End of Day 3

It is surprisingly moving to methodically render the twin towers, their windows, the jets and explosions in spices. Wondering what the weavers thought about the images they were slowly making, and making again and again. The words no longer mean anything to us, and never did to the weavers in the first place.

Many people I've had conversations with in the past few days are fascinated by the war rugs, and unafraid of their complexity. I especially enjoyed my conversation with a dairy farmer, who is also a county commissioner -- and was checking out the art museum between meetings! We talked about land use issues, the satisfaction of farming, and art. It is reassuring.

Support

Max and Samantha collaborate on reverse engineering.

Thanks to everyone's support, the 9/11 spice war rug is under construction at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM).

My niece and nephew, Samantha and Max, helped with installing the three original Afghan war rugs, very straight and secure. They also figured out how to put the cards in the funny dispenser I designed. It took coordination and cooperation, and they did a great job. Later, Daniel came for the member opening and gave his approval.

Bill Dougherty designed lovely frames for the 2006 war rug prints, and a solid platform for the new war rug. He did the heavy lifting on Sunday's install as well, always the professional.

Other artists were humming throughout the museum as everyone put the finishing touches on their installations -- everything from bronze female warriors to crystal growing tube construction responding to barometric pressure, to a beautiful sculpture of a wheel and horse hair. Puryear-esque. Lovely. My neighbor has a series of paintings inspired by his grandfather's WW1 reconnaissance flights. Shades of Chuck Close as a landscape painter, thinking about what one sees when traveling fast and at altitude. Beautiful blurs.

Schedule of Events :: Exhibition, Artist Talk and Art Prize

I'm looking forward to my artist talk this Sunday, September 11, at 2 pm at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). Hopefully the rug will be done by then too, and we can place the fringe underneath as a finishing touch. Join me if you can!

The GRAM show consists of the 30 artists they selected for Art Prize. It runs from September 7 - October 9. Nestled within that time is the actual Art Prize event, running from Sept 21 - October 6. Art Prize is an open competition and the public is the judge. The first week has voting for all the artists, and the second week is just the top 10. Voting is free, but all voters must register in person (so you can see the art in person!). The Art Prize website has info about places to stay, artist, venues, voting and more. Here is a schedule of events, in case you are able to come up to Grand Rapids for the installation or Art Prize or both. When I went last year I loved seeing thousands of people walking all over downtown GR, all looking at and talking about art. It is interesting and fun for the whole family!

Sept 8 - 11 :: War Rug Construction 10 am - 2 pm (at least) @ the GRAM
Sept 11 :: My Artist Talk 2 pm @ the GRAM
Sept 21 - 28 :: Art Prize Round One Voting
Sept 29 - Oct 5 :: Art Prize Top Ten Voting
Oct 6 :: Art Prize Winner Announced
Oct 9 :: War Rug Destruction / Printmaking 2 pm @ the GRAM
Oct 9 :: Last Day of GRAM exhibition

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now

Lynn's 9-11 War Rug from 2001

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now, Pt. 2

My 9/11 War Rug, dating from 2011.

But notice the differences between the earlier war rug and the recent iteration. In 2001, all the words are in English, and very legible. There is a lot of detail, especially in the line drawings of helicopter, jets and the windows of the World Trade Center. The palette is very simple and reductive, and curiously, the stars of US flag are reversed.

In the same way that a cartoon that has been xeroxed or faxed over and over eventually loses its meaning, or when the game of Telephone ends up telling a different story after being whispered in so many ears, much of the detail in the new version of the 9/11 War Rug doesn't read like the original. None of the words are legible, except the year "2001" and the letters "USA". There is more color and experimentation with the design, and the jet explosions have become oddly flattened. Many X's fill in the background, depicting, perhaps, explosions, mines or casualties (experienced or anticipated).

Thousands of these rugs have been made since 2001, yet it is virtually impossible to know who the original artist is, or who the many different weavers now are. They may be in Afghanistan or in a refugee camp in Pakistan. They are probably women, possibly children, and quite possibly confined to their home, illiterate and forbidden to leave unescorted by a male relative. These rugs are collected by soldiers, including General Tommy Franks who famously bought a bunch as souvenirs and gifts when he retired, and by people like me. They have almost no value for commercial rug dealers, yet they continue to be made, as the tragedy continues to evolve and people need somehow to remember.

Remembering 9/11

Our nation is bracing itself to remember the horror of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 as we approach its 10th anniversary. The whole world continues to feel the effects of this tragedy, with heightened security, fear and unease now much more a part of daily life, and the emotional and physical scars of the victims, our armed forces, and their families will be endured for years to come.

Its just as important, though, to remember all the innocent people in Afghanistan who have been affected by the events of 9/11. And those in Iraq and even Pakistan. So many of them are women and children, powerless victims without control over their surroundings.

It is conservatively estimated that betwen 12,000 and 14,000 Afghan civilians have been killed since 2001. They are killed by crossfire, improvised explosive devices, assassination, bombing, and night raids into houses of suspected insurgents. Unexploded ordnance from previous wars and from U.S. cluster bombs continue to kill after the fighting stops. The hospitals in Afghanistan are treating increasing numbers of amputees and burn patients, and in 2009, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health said two-thirds of Afghans suffer mental health problems.

Heartfelt Thanks!

Heartfelt thanks go to the friends of the War Rug Project. Your support means so much -- spiritually as well as financially. I could not do this without you!

We're close to raising the whole $5,000 needed for this phase of the project. If you'd like to help out, click here to learn more.

You are receiving this newsletter from artist Barbara Koenen because I thought you might be interested in my artwork. If that is incorrect, my apologies and please unsubscribe at the link below. Thank you!

Enews 08-28-11 War Rug Project Update

2011-11-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

Preparations are Underway...

Thanks to everyone's support, preparations are well underway for the upcoming War Rug Project installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM).

Tim is hard at work gluing Stars and Bars "popper" firecrackers to cotton cord to make the fringe we'll use (thanks Sweetie!), while I'm drawing out the pattern on a special felt mat.

Fresh spices have been purchased at my favorite wholesaler, Neiman Brothers. Poppyseeds, allspice, turmeric, cinnamon, sesame, ginger, coriander and more all look, smell and feel amazing.

We purchased a new "9/11" war rug on Ebay for the project, and also borrowed an older one one from my friend, the artist Lynn Basa. It's interesting to compare the two, which I've done below.

Allison Neidt Toonan worked her graphic design magic on some 50 variations of cards for the project. The awesome Bill Dougherty is building platforms and frames. My friend and videographer Doug VanderHoof is making a short video about the project, which I'll share with you soon.

Schedule of Events :: GRAM Exhibition and Art Prize

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now

Lynn's 9-11 War Rug from 2001

Last month, we purchased a new "9/11" war rug on Ebay, and then my friend, the artist Lynn Basa, lent me one she purchased shortly after the attack in 2001. It's interesting to compare the two.

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now, Pt. 2

My 9/11 War Rug, dating from 2011.

In the same way that a cartoon that has been xeroxed or faxed over and over eventually loses its meaning, or when the game of Telephone ends up telling a different story after being whispered in so many ears, much of the detail in the new version of the 9/11 War Rug doesn't read like the original. None of the words are legible, except the year "2001" and the letters "USA". There is more color and experimentation with the design, and the jet explosions have become oddly flattened. Many X's fill in the background, depicting, perhaps, explosions, mines or casualties (experienced or anticipated).

Thousands of these rugs have been made since 2001, yet it is virtually impossible to know who the original artist is, or who the many different weavers now are. They may be in Afghanistan or in a refugee camp in Pakistan. They are probably women, possibly children, and if located in the countryside, quite possibly confined to their home, illiterate and forbidden to leave unescorted by a male relative. These rugs are collected by soldiers, including General Tommy Franks who famously bought a bunch as souvenirs and gifts when he retired, and by people like me. They have almost no value for commercial rug dealers, yet they continue to be made, as the tragedy continues to evolve and people need somehow to remember.

Remembering 9/11

Children killed this year in a helicopter attack.

Heartfelt Thanks!

Heartfelt thanks go to the friends of the War Rug Project. Your support means so much -- spiritually as well as financially. I could not do this without you!

We're close to raising the whole $5,000 needed for this phase of the project. If you'd like to help out, click here to learn more.

Enews 08/08/11

2011-11-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

war rugs, pomegranates, and other musings...

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The War Rug Project in Grand Rapids is less than a month away...

Plans are underway for the War Rug Project installation next month. Starting on September 6, I will be building the first 9/11 Afghan War Rug out of loose spices in a temporary installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. All of the eight previous war rugs I've recreated have been found on Ebay -- and the 9/11 Rug will be no exception. Here is its Ebay listing, which provides the title of the artwork and the monoprints:

The "Twin Towers-Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" has arrived from Tucson, and I'm planning the spices and construction process now.
These 9/11 rugs are different from the Soviet-era carpets. They draw from media imagery and images from US/Coalition Forces propaganda, like this image of flags and a dove of peace that was made into stickers and leaflets:

courtesy of http://www.warrug.com/pages/psyops.php

HEARTFELT THANKS TO the following people who've lent their support to the War Rug Project:
Chuck Thurow + Kathy Banzhaf + Karen Paluzzi Steele + Pooja Vukosavich + Kristin Dean + Chris Gent + Laura Samson + Kristin Patton + Carol Reisinger + David Hinkamp + Marguerite Horberg + Dianna Frid + Esther Grimm + Carolina Jayaram + Beverly Koenen (thanks Mom!) + Robert Tassone

Each has helped me raise $5,000 to cover costs associated with the War Rug Project installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum: Framing three large spice monoprints. Building a platform for the new 9/11 war rug. Shipping the artwork. Documenting the creation and the destruction of the new war rug. Designing and printing a War Rug Project trading card. Producing a book about the project.   And no doubt something else I haven't thought of yet! All of these add up to a great exhibit, and a bit of an investment. If you can help with a gift of anywhere from $10 to $5,000, I have a gift for you, along with heartfelt gratitude. See the new gift options and learn more about the War Rug Project on my Indie Go Go webpage.

ARTIST TALK
I'll be giving an Artist Talk on Sunday September 11, 2011 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. We don't hear enough about the women of Afghanistan, so I'll be talking about them and their troubled situation. Some articles I'm reading now in preparation include
Afghan Women at the Crossroads by Michael Soussan
It is impossible to say, now, what would have happened... by Geraldine Brooks
Why Peace is the Business of Men... and Shouldn't Be by Ann Jones
Afghan Women under Tyranny RAWA.org
and the video "ReThink Afghanistan - Women"

If you have any questions, suggestions or thoughts you'd like to share about the War Rug Project, please email me at koenen@gmail.com.

SPREAD THE WORD
Pass along this email to let your friends know about the War Rug Project as it develops, and remind them to sign up for Enews.

Thanks for your support!

Barbara Koenen
www.barbarakoenen.com

Enews 07/25/11 "War Rug Project Update - Fundraising"

2011-11-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

The War Rug Project
Fundraising Campaign Launched!

Dear Friend,

This fall, on the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I've been invited to make a Spice War Rug installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. It is a momentous opportunity for reflection and commemoration, and I have resolved that the installation will be my most ambitious project yet. It is part of the 2011 Art Prize competition, and I could use your help...

I'm trying to raise $5,000 to cover costs associated with the exhibit. Framing three large spice monoprints. Creating a platform for the new 9/11 war rug. Shipping the artwork. Documenting the creation and the destruction of the new war rug. Designing and printing a War Rug Project trading card. Producing a book about the project.   All of these add up to a great exhibit, and a bit of an investment. If you can help with a gift of anywhere from $10 to $5,000, I have a gift for you, along with heartfelt gratitude. You can learn more about the War Rug Project, and see the various options on my Indie Go Go webpage.

And, if you have any questions, suggestions or reminiscences you'd like to share about the War Rug Project, please email me at koenen@gmail.com.

I'll be sending out more emails about the project as it develops, including the talk I'll be giving in Grand Rapids on Sept 11, and the whole Art Prize that will follow, so stay tuned!

And thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Barbara Koenen
www.barbarakoenen.com

Enews 07/16/11 "Summer Muse... Arts Enews"

2011-11-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

Enews from Barbara Koenen

Summer Muse

Dear Friend,

"They are heavy in my hand. Round, lumpy, fecund. If I threw them against a wall they would explode, fragments of pulp and red stain..."

This is the beginning of my essay, Muse, which appears in the Summer issue of Gastronomica, the Journal of Food and Culture.
It is an anecdotal reminiscence about pomegranates and hand grenades and their odd, unfortunate centuries-old relationship, accompanied by the beautiful photograph (above) taken by my friend, photographer William Zbaren.

The essay stems from a 2007 installation I did at Finestra Art Space in the Fine Arts Building. You can see some photos if you missed it, and reviews on my website, www.barbarakoenen.com. Gastronomica is available at Whole Foods or online here. Also wonderful articles on John Cage and Mycology, foraging in Oregon, and the politics of sustainability. The whole issue is a real treat.

Coming Soon-- The War Rug Project

It is hard to believe that its been almost 10 years since terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, and we went to war in Afghanistan. I've been creating installations based on Afghan war rugs ever since, in some attempt to digest, resolve, and commemorate the sacrifices that have resulted from these tragic events.

This September, I will be making a new war rug installation -- this time based on a 9/11 war rug. I will be making it at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, which has selected me to exhibit during the 2011 Art Prize competition. The exhibition will run from September 6 - October 21, and I encourage you to consider making the trip to attend.

War Rugs?
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the late 1970s, Afghan women, the traditional weavers, began to incorporate pictures of weapons into their traditional floral, animal and geometric patterns. Subtle at first, soon rifles, grenades, tanks, AK-47s, helicopters, landmines and bullets dominated these strange textiles, erasing centuries of previous motifs.

I adopted the practice of the Tibetan Buddhist monks who make elaborate sand mandalas that they then destroy, and began to reconstruct Afghan War Rugs like mandalas, using spices instead of sand. A meditation, my spice war rugs take up to a week to complete, with fringe and popper firecrackers attached. Like the mandalas, they exist only temporarily, and are often touched, inhaled, even walked on. At first, I swept up the spices into jars at the end of each exhibition. Now I record the pieces as “monoprints,” which retain the pattern of the installation, its scent and color. I've made 8 war rugs so far, and you can see them here.

The War Rug Project
There will be several stages to the project.
Sept 6-11 Creation
Sept 11 Artists Talk, Ten Years After
Sept 21 - 28 Art Prize Voting
Sept 29 - Oct 9 Art Prize Round 2
Oct 21 Closing Ceremony / Monoprint Pull

At the conclusion of the exhibit, I will make a book that documents the 10 year project as an art work and an intellectual journey.

Why Art Prize?
My brother's family invited me to Grand Rapids last year to see Art Prize, an open, city-wide art exhibition and competition, and I went out of curiosity. I was amazed to see over 100,000 people walking all around town, and everyone was talking about art. Families, couples, kids. For three weeks straight! I decided Art Prize was an excellent opportunity to start a lot of conversations about war rugs, Buddhist mandalas, and the lost voices of Afghan women.

So, stay tuned for more details and think about a trip to Grand Rapids sometime this fall. It's guaranteed to be an interesting experience!

What else?

Wishing you a happy summer, and stay tuned for more about the War Rug Project. If you have thoughts or observations related to the project, the war, the rugs or the status of women that you'd like to share, please email me at koenen@gmail.com And of course tell your friends, if they are interested in this sort of thing.

All the best,

Barbara Koenen

The War Rug Project at GRAM/Art Prize 2011

2011-09-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Making

photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick.

Finishing

The completed spice installation, Sept 11, 2011

We will pull prints of the installation on the last day of the show, Sunday October 9 at 2:00 pm. Join us!

photo by John Corriveau

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now

2011-09-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

Barbara Koenen

Last month, we purchased a new "9/11" war rug on Ebay, and then my friend, the artist Lynn Basa, lent me one she purchased shortly after the attack in 2001. It's interesting to compare the two.

War rugs originate from the 1979 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and mostly depict patterns of weapons, and sometimes maps of specific events or places. 9/11 Rugs appeared shortly after the terrorist attacks in 2001 and subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan.

Both Lynn's and my 9/11 rugs depict the World Trade Center with jets flying into both towers simultaneously. It looks as though the image was based on a collage of media photographs from both seperate attacks. Both rugs depict US and Afghan flags, with a superimposed dove of peace linking them. Both have the outline of Afghanistan in the background. Both are anchored by a closeup of a US aircraft carrier with jets on board and taking off, and a missle being launched.

But notice the differences. On Lynn's earlier rug, all the words are in English, and very legible. There is a lot of detail, especially in the line drawings of helicopter, jets and the windows of the World Trade Center. The palette is very simple and reductive, and curiously, the stars of US flag are reversed.

In the same way that a cartoon that has been xeroxed or faxed over and over eventually loses its meaning, or when the game of Telephone ends up telling a different story after being whispered in so many ears, much of the detail in the new version of the 9/11 War Rug doesn't read like the original. None of the words are legible, except the year "2001" and the letters "USA". There is more color and experimentation with the design, and the jet explosions have become oddly flattened. Many X's fill in the background, depicting, perhaps, explosions, mines or casualties (experienced or anticipated).

Thousands of these rugs have been made since 2001, yet it is virtually impossible to know who the original artist is, or who the many different weavers now are. They are probably women, in the countryside of Afghanistan or a refugee camp in Pakistan. They are probably opium addicts, illiterate, confined to their home, and forbidden to leave unescorted by a male relative.

These rugs are collected by soldiers, including General Tommy Franks who famously bought a bunch as souvenirs and gifts when he retired, and by people like me. They have almost no value for commercial rug dealers, yet they continue to be made, as the tragedy continues to evolve and people need somehow to remember.

Remembering 9/11

2011-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

As we remember 9/11, let's expand our mourning for all the victims, and work together to make a real and lasting peace. Let us not abandon them, but let us not assume dominion either. And if you'd like to help, consider supporting one of these fine organizations.

RAWA - Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
Emergency provides medical assistance
Women for Afghan Women

Why Supporting Afghan Women is Imperative to Peace

2011-08-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

Geraldine Brooks "It is impossible to say, now, what would have happened..."

Why Peace is the Business of Men... and Shouldn't Be ...Men at the negotiating table still jockey for power and wealth -- notably control of a country’s natural resources -- while women included at any level of negotiations commonly advocate for interests that coincide perfectly with those of civil society. Women are concerned about their children and consequently about shelter, clean water, sanitation, jobs, health care, education, and the like -- all those things that make life livable for peaceable men, women, and children anywhere. The conclusion is self-evident. Bring women to the table in decision-making roles in equal numbers with male participants and the nature of peace negotiations changes altogether.

Ann Jones "We don't have as many women in our Congress as Afghanistan has in theirs... Women were put into the Parliment by the arrangements made through tht international community that required 25% quota for women... but can you imagine suggesting that we should have a quota. in this country so that 25% of our representatives in Congress be women? We'd be stoned!" We foist it onto the countries we are trying to democratize, but the notion of democratizing our own country in that way is unthinkable!"

Tomcast: "You can put $130 million taxpayer dollars into a new aircraft-fueling system at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan or billions of taxpayer dollars into the Pakistani military (defending a country in which the rich go notoriously untaxed), but not one cent for peace. As for women, well, too bad."

"If they ask you why we died, tell them because our fathers lied." Essay by Ray McGovern, retired CIA analyst

Sadiqa Basiri Saleem: As a refugee living in Pakistan, Sadiqa Basiri Saleem was close to earning a medical degree when the Taliban shut down her Afghan-run school. When she returned home to Wardak province after the fall of the Taliban, she found 150,000 girls with no hope for an education — for years, the regime had forbidden girls over the age of eight from attending school.

Help the organizations that help:

Women for Afghan Women

Women for Women helping women survive war

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan RAWA is the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977.

2011-08-08T20:49:00.001-07:00

Enews from Barbara Koenen

Summer Muse

Coming Soon-- The War Rug Project

War Rug Project Launches

2011-08-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

Many friends have lent their support to The War Rug Project campaign.

HEARTFELT THANKS go to:

Chuck Thurow
Kathy Banzhaf
Karen Paluzzi Steele
Pooja Vukosavich
Kristin Dean
Chris Gent
Laura Samson
Kristin Patton
Carol Reisinger
David Hinkamp
Marguerite Horberg
Dianna Frid
Esther Grimm
Carolina Jayaram
Beverly Koenen (thanks Mom!)
Robert Tassone

and many others who've offered their support.

Muse: Pomegranates and Hand Grenades

2011-06-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Gastronomica Summer Issue Preview

Activist for Afghan Women Founds Community College in Kabul

2010-11-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

Sadiqa Basiri
Activist for Afghan Women founds Community College in Kabul

I had the pleasure of meeting Sadiqa Basiri on November 17 when she spoke at Columbia College / Museum of Contemporary Photography about the situation of women in Afghanistan, and what she has been doing to effect change.

Sadiqa is a young woman, raised as a refugee in Pakistan for many years before returning to her native land, where she has founded six girls schools and opened the first Afghan community college for women. She spoke of how important it is for women to be educated in Afghanistan, and how rare it is. Her own schooling was primarily rote memorization and did not involve critical thinking. Despite that, she brilliantly decided to transcribe every mention of women's rights written in the Koran and distributed them at every town in the countryside that she went to. "So it was not Sadiqa's opinion, but the Koran"

She spoke with sadness about the Taliban warlords, "our angry brothers" and how President Karzai is supporting them. She worried that US withdrawl will mean more repression for women. The recently passed Shia Law that forbids women from wroking outside the home or freeling moving, and condones marital rape. She talked about the National Stabilization and Reformation Act, which gives amnesty to all war criminals from the last 20 years, condoning the violence, intolerance and brutality.

Despite all this, Sadiqa remained optimistic, committed, firm and resolute. She advised contacting ambassadors to take women issues seriously and to hold Karzai accountable to women. She talked about what her school, the Oruj Learning Center, needs -- curriculum development, visiting professors, funding to rent space ($50,000/yr). Her first year she had 70 students, the second year -- 140. It is unusual for women to be able to attend college -- of 100,000 applications for higher education, only 23,000 are accepted, and o fthem only 2% are women.

Donate to Sadiqa's school , the Oruj Learning Project, if you can.

Read more about her here.

Another interesting speaker was Anna Badkhen, a journalist and author of Waiting for the Taliban and Peace meals: Candy-wrapped Kalashnikovs and other War Stories.

My City's Still Breathing, Co-Prosperity School,

2010-10-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to participating in My City's Still Breathing, a symposium exploring the arts, artists and the city. November 2-7 in Winnipeg Manitoba. Winnipeg is the 2010 Canadian Cultural Capital, and is so pleased with having created and fully implemented a cultural plan that it is embarking on a new cultural plan for the next decade. I can't wait to learn more about it.

The Co-Prosperity School is an Artist-Run School for and about the advancement and understanding of contemporary Chicago Art. Through guest speakers and class member presentations we will shine a light on the contemporary art scene of Chicago. I'm "teaching" on November 1. Hopefully we'll all be learning alot via conversations and presentations. More here

And, AREA, Chicago's excellent grass-roots exploratory publication, has released its 10th anniversary issue, institutions and infrastructures, with many compelling essays and investigations relating to Chicago and beyond, including a brief piece by yours truly.

My Audacity of Hope -- Reverse Samson Effect

2010-06-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

My Audacity of Hope

On Inauguration Day...

January 20, 2009

On Inauguration Day...
I cut my hair for the first time since 9/11. This is very good news... my hair was really too long.

I had shaved my head while on vacation on September 10, 2001. The next day, when Bush responded to the 9/11 tragedy by declaring "war on terror" and urging us to go shopping, I needed to respond.

I vowed not to cut my hair again until the "war on terror" was over.

The absurdity of waging war on a feeling was cruel, and it detracted from the real issues at hand. Although I felt powerless about the whole situation, I still wanted something personal to mark the terrorist attack and its many ramifications.

My hair became a record, a symbol, a reminder.
It grew for 2,674 days (7 years, 18 weeks, and counting...)

Now, although resigned that we'll still be at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, tragically, for the forseeable future, I'm audaciously hopeful that our new President Obama will not wage war on a feeling, or on the English language, or the Geneva Conventions, or on the Constitution. He will not bully, he will not disparage nor disrespect our friends or the grievances of our enemy.

Reason enough to celebrate the audacity of hope!

I made an appointment at the Hyde Park Hair Salon for 4:00 pm, Tuesday January 20, 2009. President Obama''s barber, Zafir, was already booked (in Washington!), so Antonio did the honors.

photos many thanks to Paul Natkin

and Adam Brooks (top photo)

But What is Reverse Samson Effect?

Unlike Delilah's boyfriend in the Bible,
cutting my hair has made me stronger!
Fun links about this to try:

www.chicagoist.com

Chicago Reader

USA Today (in the Share section of the Inauguration Gallery)

flickr.com

See the video and more pics on Facebook (coming soon!)

Letter from a friend

2010-06-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I met a boy named Mohammed....

Here's what I wrote about that. (see below)

Love,

Hatti

P.S. Prepare yourself, it's a little long. Thanks.

This morning my friend, Aaron called me. We hadn't seen each other for a few months because he lives in Chicago and I now live in New York. He said, "Why don't you meet us at the Met because we're not a very mobile party – Mohammed's got a crutch…" "Oh, yeah, of course! I figured that's where we'd meet!" And so we picked a time and a place – high noon in the Egyptian lake room, and I finished doing my laundry. I didn't know who Mohammed was precisely, but could make a guess that he was most likely a child who had been wounded badly enough in Iraq that he'd been brought to the U.S. for care.

Weekend delays with the MTA and a long coat check at the Met put me behind just a little and Aaron texted: [Please come to the near east] so I skipped Egypt and headed upstairs to the dimly lit rooms of Ancient Assyria. I found them by the gates of Ashurnasirpal, two figures seated on a bench—one tall, blond-headed and bent over, speaking and building shapes in the air with his hands, and the other much smaller, wearing a baseball cap over his dark curly hair, listening…watching. Aaron and Mohammed. Aaron didn't see me, but Mohammed saw me see Aaron, his eyes widened as I quietly slid onto the bench and right up beside them. Oh wonderful sweet surprise! So good to see my friend! And to meet Mohammed! And Aaron asked me if I knew the story behind the Assyrian cuneiform and the reliefs all around us. And without hesitation we launched right into it, talk about the wonders on the walls, and what came first – this stuff or the Egyptians? And it was funny and sweet and easy – our lack of knowledge about these things and the humor and difficulty of trying to communicate it to a thirteen year old boy who speaks very little English but who was very interested in understanding and humoring us. Every now and then, Mohammed understood what historical happenings Aaron and I were confusing each other with and simply communicated what was what. Brilliant. Such a gorgeous boy is what I want to write over and over again. Such a gorgeous boy. Thoroughly. This boy, here from Fallujah. Sitting there in this nearly empty wing of an otherwise packed museum, he softly sang, at Aaron's request, a children's song in Arabic; a song that children sing when they are in the car so happily going to mosque.

After a while, my belly reminded me that it was lunchtime so I asked Aaron if they'd eaten lunch yet and he said that No they hadn't but that he was hungry. I asked Mohammed if he was hungry too and, while Aaron rocked back in laughter, Mohammed just looked at me quizzically. Aaron said sarcastically – He's never hungry! And then, grinning, he poked Mohammed in the ribs. As we would continue to do for the rest of the day, we went through the conversation again several times, from every angle we could think of in an effort to convey meaning through our limited shared vocabulary. With a smile every time, it continually came down to No, No, No – he wasn't hungry! And so Aaron and I decided that we were hungry so let's go eat! And as he would continue to do when we would ask him his opinion or preference about where to go or what to do he would smile softly and say "As you like." and Aaron and I would eventually give up and make a decision.

Neither Aaron nor I know the neighborhood around the Met well enough to have picked out a nearby restaurant and so, with a boy and a crutch, we decided that our best option was the museum cafeteria. We stood to walk and it was not crutches that Mohammed had, but just one – a forearm crutch; the kind that pushed the arm of his hoody up to bunch all around his elbow. We slowly moved through the Ancient Assyria galleries and when Mohammed lagged, I turned to find him caught up in a map of the region. This would be the first of many maps that we would look at together today. He puzzled at the ancient names of the Fertile Crescent written in English on a map that he knew quite well otherwise, and as we cruised along, he pointed out the word Allah in some of the very old Egyptian Arabic along one wall.

Nearing the gallery that would get us to the elevator, we saw that it had been blocked off for construction or something and we got rerouted on a circuitous trip through the European art collection. (Not very helpful to those using crutches!) Room after massive room of wall sized bible scenes and suddenly I was looking at them through the eyes of 13-year old Iraqi Muslim boy who came to the U.S. only three months ago. (Until this time, he had only ever left the GMRF facilities on Staten Island in order to go to a hospital in Philadelphia for treatment.) Steady bright electric light pouring down on wildly colored huge images of skeletons and angels, mother and child, mother and child, mother and child, and massive crucifixion after crucifixion after crucifixion! – so bizarre.

In the elevator, Aaron wondered if Modern Art or old European Art would make more sense and/or be more appealing to Mohammed. I suggested that really, I didn't think either one would make sense or be appealing to him. We made it to the basement and the elevator doors opened right into the cafeteria lunch line. The place was PACKED! So packed full of people that as they tried to bully their ways around us they didn't even know that they were pushing a kid with a prosthetic leg out of the way - they couldn't see his crutch past their big hungry bellies. We anchored our place in the line and still trying to get Mohammed to admit that he might be a little hungry I asked him if he liked pizza. And he said Yes, pizza! So I went on about pizza…Yum pizza! DELICIOUS pizza! Pizza is FABULOUS! Every museum cafeteria serves pizza! Right!? Whoops! Not this one…not in our newly health-conscious New York… eeeeeeeeeeeeee… whoops. So I ran off and made us a big salad at the salad bar – trying to figure out what would be appealing, A.) to a 13 year old boy, and B.) to an Iraqi. I wound up just making a salad that I knew Aaron and I would like, kept it simple and added three bread rolls to the plate. I figured that when in a foreign land, neutral starches are usually a winner. Aaron and Mohammed showed up with a large plate of veggie ravioli in a creamy tomato and pea sauce and we headed for the checkout line.

Now, here's the part where Aaron and I have our next amazing coincidence. (I do believe that every time that Aaron and I have spent time together some uncanny coincidence or another has come to light or occurred. I cannot think of a single time when it hasn't…) As Aaron was paying for our food, I glanced up and noticed a woman finishing up a conversation with a few other people just two feet past the end of our check out line. But it wasn't just any woman…it was Barbara Koenen! Barbara Koenen from Chicago who I haven't seen for years and there she was! With her husband, Tim. Whoa, man!!! Here's the thing: I interned for Barbara in 2001 at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. On top of that, I also helped her out a bit with some of her pieces. Barbara is a bureaucrat and an artist. (And an artistic bureaucrat.) Since I've known her, she's been making Afghan war rugs out of loose spices. Afghani weavers weave their culture into their rugs. Along with war with Russia, the rugs came to include tanks, guns, bombs, grenades, helicopters and more. As Buddhist monks carefully lay down sand-mandalas, Barbara carefully lays down her spice rugs that they may be swept up later, vanishing back to where they came from. Transitory, like life. Non-attachment to one's work. Every good rug has fringe, and that is what I helped her with. Hand rolling the guts of fireworks into tissue paper, which then get laid down loosely as well so that, at the edges, they look like this: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII . Barbara used to lay these gorgeous rugs down in galleries and museums without bringing too much attention to them – and if people noticed them, they would stop and look. And if people walked on them, they would smear the loose spices and leave footprints and then BANG! The fringe would snap beneath their feet – and they could no longer remain unconscious about what was happening right beneath their noses. For visuals go to here

Recently, Barbara has been organizing artists for shows based around the theme of war. So, upon receiving a recent show announcement, I sent her Aaron's web address. Among many other things, Aaron is also an artist, an Iraq War veteran and very actively anti-war. His artwork goes straight to the heart. For visuals go t http://www.aarhughes.org/ (I recommend: Projects/Ahmed.) So I sent her Aaron's web address, and emailed him to tell him who she was and that I'd given her his info, just in case she contacted him and, remaining immersed in my own business a few states away, I left it at that.

And there was Barbara, at the end of the checkout line. At the end of, specifically, our checkout line. I know a rather large number of artists, and an extremely limited number of them (3) who make art about war. I'd just met Aaron before I moved to New York, I'd just met Mohammed an hour ago, and I hadn't seen Barbara for years. And now here we all were, in New York City in the basement of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a Saturday afternoon with hundreds of millions of moving people passing all around us and half a million of them in this museum alone! (Not to mention a quarter million of them in that very same cafeteria!)

Barbara and I marveled over each other and then she stepped back when she saw that Aaron was there too and then we introduced her to Mohammed. Unbelievable and thoroughly believable - both at the same time. If human kind moves through time like a river, then it's amazing to consider the undercurrents and eddies that swish us around and mix us up into such wild combinations. We all caught up for a minute and I got to hear about a talk that Aaron had just given at the Hyde Park Art Center, which Barbara had organized. Awesome. It's not so great though, at this point, for Mohammed to stand around for too long, so we cut it short, saved some for later and parted ways. Mohammed forged ahead to find us a table.

That boy is strong and super-independent. Aaron and I speculated that this is probably at least partly where the "not ever being hungry" business comes in. (Not to mention, he and his mother probably do not have much in the way of money). Wearing only a t-shirt and two hoodies, he also professed to not being cold in the below freezing weather outside. How could he not be cold here I wonder? I'm cold everywhere including here - and between here - in NYC, and growing up in snowy blowy Ohio, I just spent 9 years in Chicago – this kid is straight out of Iraq and he's not cold? Hm. Fascinating. Granted, I did get a little chilly at times in Sub-Saharan Africa, but let me tell you – it was below 30 degrees out there today. That is, technically, real cold.

Aaron ran off to get us water and coffee and things and as Mohammed and I got ourselves seated, it looked to me as though he was tired in his bones – he'd done a lot of walking today. He'd been on a subway for the first time in his life today and wound up in the heart of New York City, the heart of Manhattan, in a massive over-the-top opulent American museum. And Aaron told me that he'd gotten to play soccer yesterday too – for the first time in three or four years. Rehab has been going well for him and he got excited and threw his crutch down for a bit to play.

We sat quietly for a few minutes and I could see his attention drifting, sliding through the tabletop into who knows where. After a while he looked up and asked me "How many years are you?" So I said what I often say to this question, "Guess." But he didn't know that word and just looked at me. Hm. Okay. So I tried "What do you think?" Nope, that didn't quite do it either. Mmmm, let's see…"You tell me?" (pointing first to his heart, next to me talking, then to my heart) Ah, yes good, he got it. "Nineteen." Ah! Man, really? Even an Iraqi kid thinks I look 19. Psh! This made me laugh and I told him "No! 29!" and he laughed too and shook his head no-no-no. Geez Louise, I was thinking. He asked where Aaron went and I told him, which launched us into a conversation/mime about Arabic coffee in tiny glasses and his mother who loves coffee. We also talked about family and he said he has two sisters. One is a teacher and the other one is married. He told me that his mother is fat.

Aaron came back with drinks and a plate full of churros. He told us a story about being in Iraq when a boy – a boy like you he said, pointing to Mohammed's chest until he nodded understanding – gave me a churro like this (pointing pointing pointing). Mohammed looked at Aaron out of the corner of his narrowed eyes in disbelief, and looking from Aaron to the churros said "What!? No." – essentially saying, Yeah right, dude, that sounds implausible what the hell is that thing anyway? And I just about slid onto the floor laughing and suggested that maybe the Iraqi he'd met had been studying Mexico? Haaaaaaa!!!!!! This teasing came right back to me when I told Aaron that Mohammed had asked my age and that he'd thought that I was 19. Aaron asked "You're not 19?" And then turned to Mohammed and pronounced, "She is 19." Which Mohammed seemed to believe more than 29. Great.

When we asked Mohammed if he was tired he would say No - every time. But when Aaron and I would trail off in Engleshi it was clear that he was zoning out and trying to keep his head off the table. I can only imagine how overwhelming this day was for him – let alone every day of his life for the past 6 years.

Suddenly I remembered what I thought I recalled was the Arabic word for 'dates' (the dried fruit) because I've seen it on packaging labels. Fadjool? Fadjul? Something like that? Mohammad got very excited and we launched into a halting back and forth about how Iraqi dates are the best in the world and fasting from 6AM to 7PM (or was it 7AM to 6PM?) for Ramadan and I don't know exactly how those things are related…but Mohammed really liked telling us about what he knows and we really liked hearing it.

Supplementing our halting words and miming was Aaron's sketchbook, which we would draw in when worse came to worse or, of course, if visuals were simply more appropriate. Mohammed also showed us how to write many things in Arabic. Did you know that we write everything backwards? At the lunch table, surrounded by (mostly) loud American families hustling and bustling by us, Mohammad drew a map of Iraq and he and Aaron discussed where the Sunnis and Shiites were - both in Iraq and in the nations surrounding.

Mohammed continued to tell us that he wasn't hungry, no matter how much Aaron teased him and pleaded with him. "How do you think I got this tall?" "Your mother will get mad at me!" "You need to eat to get strong after rehab!" No dice. Not interested in the salad, not interested in the ravioli. I did notice that one of the bread rolls had gone completely missing though. Eventually I split the churros into three equal parts and said, "Okay, we each eat this and then we can go!" That worked. I'm sure it's hard for any kid to turn down fried dough slathered in sugar - wherever they're from! He choked it down.

Refueled and rested we decided it might be cool to take Mohammed to go see the Lorenzo Ghiberti doors. The Renaissance style "Gates of Paradise" - gilded bronze doors - amazing reliefs depicting scenes from the Old Testament. I asked directions at the cafeteria Info-Desk and the woman there said dryly "Take the elevator behind you up to the first floor, walk toward Christ and make a right" and then she turned away to talk to somebody else. Okay. Take a right at Christ, got it. Somehow those didn't seem like very Kosher museum directions, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed them. Exiting the elevator we had to walk through the Medieval gallery – filled with people silently gawking at a large evergreen tree with lights and pictures stuck in it, the voice of a woman singing in Latin being piped in from somewhere. Very Barbarella in a Pagan sort of way. We walked on. Apparently I'm not the best at telling myself things silently. When Christ came into view, I said "Hey, there's Christ!" a massive crucifixion in bronze, hung from the ceiling at a gallery juncture. I very slightly lifted my arms, Christ-like, and said "Bathrooms to the left, Ghiberti to the right." Not only did Mohammed hear me but he also understood me (he knows how to mime, he knows the word Christ, and he definitely knows the word bathroom - Ai!) and he just about slipped off his crutch with laughter.

The doors were, indeed beautiful, but did not hold the attention of our party. Besides, one of us was getting very obviously (although still not admittedly) physically tired. I watched Mohammed as we walked, using his right forearm on various horizontal surfaces that we were passing in order to support his weight and to take it off his legs and the crutch on his left arm. We headed next door to the Egyptian lake to sit and rest and talk and to take photographs of all the people taking photographs. I did most of the photographing of photographers and the boys did most of the talking. Aaron was making a video recording of Mohammed while he talked about things. I came in and out of the conversation as I wandered around.

I walked into the conversation at a point where they were going back and forth:

Mohammed: Soejas veddy nice!

Aaron: Soldiers are nice?

M: Yes, veddy nice.

A: Soldiers? American soldiers?

M: Yes.

He told a story about U.S. soldiers coming into his house and asking for "mediseen…aspirden – you undastandt? Aspirden." He seemed proud that he was able to talk to them in English and to help them.

I asked if they had electricity at home and Mohammed said "No." "Water?" "No." and he took to the sketchbook. He drew a boat, then added water below. The communication passed between he and Aaron and Aaron said A-ha! They go to the river for their water and then they light a fire beneath it. They boil it to make it safe for drinking. I asked what they burn to make the fire and Mohammed pointed outside to the trees. Is the air black? Yes, very black.

He said "I no love my fatha." His dad is "big police" with the Iraqi police, working for the Americans. I took "big police" to mean that his dad was or is a big wig. His dad divorced his mom and doesn't give them any money. I do believe that a husband divorcing a wife in Islam is a very big and bad deal for the wife. The man is remarried now, with another family. Mohammed added to a picture that was already drawn in Aaron's book. It was a picture of a Native American holding some kind of stick – that part of the drawing escapes me now – but exuding from the bottom of the stick Mohammed added a bunch of scratch marks. He was describing something about what the Iraqi police do or did. "A shovel? Do they bury people?" no-no-no "Ah! A broom? They sweep?" Yes! Yes! Apparently the police sweep the streets? Hm.

He said the people of Iraq are very very good people, but when Aaron asked if he wanted to go back there he said No.

Earlier, Aaron and I had talked about possibly taking him to the top of the Empire State Building next. So I asked Mohammed, "Do you want to go to the top of a very tall building?" Aaron added, "A high tower – you know 'tower'?" Mohammed gave us the What? look as I attempted to mime looking down around at the city. That didn't do it. Out came the sketchbook and I drew a whole bunch of skyscraper buildings with one building three times as high as all the rest and I put a little stick figure up there, pointed to Mohammed then pointed to the stick figure and said "you. - you want to go up?" His eyes widened and he said something like "me want…?" and he mimed jumping off! As in suicide! Whoa! Aaron and I profusely protested – NO, no, NO! Whoa! Not that, No! And I quickly added several more figures – one of them much taller than the rest (Aaron is 6'9" or something) and I did the pointing "Me, you, Aaron – we go up to look, to see!" trailing the pen up the drawing of the building. I'm not sure he totally got that either, but still we heard "…As you like."

Aaron and I took turns mothering Mohammed while at the same time trying to not mother him because he is, after all, a cognizant 13-year old boy. I did however push the gloves on him as we left the museum. We got a cab and headed down 5^th Avenue. Turned on to Park and I got to point out my brother's building. Family was a good topic of conversation between us so I was glad to show that some was near. And we just looked and looked out the windows. While in the cab, Aaron called one of his professors who happens to speak Arabic and who also just moved to Chicago from Brooklyn. Aaron put Mohammed on the phone with him and he truly lit up and talked so much and so fast that it was delightful to see – I know what a major relief it is to suddenly be able to easily communicate again in one's own tongue. From the Professor, Aaron got an Iraqi restaurant dinner recommendation. Good work!

The staff at the Empire State Building were outstanding. Seemingly without even seeing Mohammed's crutch or gait, they whisked us past the long lines of people (I overheard that people were waiting for almost two hours to go up) and they put us into practically private elevators. As we walked along a private corridor, bypassing the throngs weaving their way forward on the other side of the wall, I said something like "Well, this is the life!" And Aaron replied, "Well, it's the least they could do." And he was right, and the reality of that hit me like a boulder dropping in my belly.

We made it to the ticket counter and said "two students and a boy with a prosthetic leg". "No student discounts". Aaron tried a different approach, "A veteran. A boy with a prosthetic leg. And a, uh, a regular person." Lord have mercy, someone finally thinks I'm regular. Anyway, that finally got us some discounts. The woman behind the counter looked at us sympathetically and said, "Oh my, a regular person? I'm so sorry. We'll get you up there right away – no charge!" Just kidding, she made Aaron show a fistful of I.D.'s, charged us 50 bucks and up we went. (Sidenote: If we had to pay $50, I wonder how much those suckers in line had to shell out. ? wow, man.) Our last elevator ride to the top (they do it in segments) was just the three of us, and the elevator operator. He tried to make small talk with us, "Where you from?" The question registered in my brain just as I heard Mohammed softly answering it, "Iraq." For all the lack of space in that little elevator, the elevator man kind of stood back. Oh! "…So, uh, did you get hurt in the war?" (pause), "yes." frankly, softly. The doors began opening then and the man offered "Hey! It'll be okay." And Aaron and I just goggled in amazement and horror for a moment before we followed Mohammed out.

It sure is stunning up there. And we'd accidently arrived at the perfect time for a gorgeous pinky-orange sunset. First we looked East, all the lights shining and twinkling across the land. We navigated our way to the South wall and squeezed our way up to it. Among so many of the more positive ones, one of the many little lessons of this day was how needlessly pushy a lot of people can be. I found myself spreading my arms out around Mohammed to keep people from knocking him or his crutch. I raised my voice to an old man.

At the edge, Mohammed just stared and stared and stared out over it all. Unfathomable. Aaron pointed out the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island, where Mohammed has been staying. It was the first time that I'd seen Mohammed pull out his camera, a little $5 disposable point and shoot. He pressed all four fingers of his left hand into his left eye so that he could see better through the tiny lens with his right. If this kid hadn't already melted my heart, it would have dissolved right then.

We spent a lot of time right there, just looking. And I was cold, but Mohammed said that he was not cold. My, oh, my. Eventually we decided to see if Times Square was visible from above. (Hey, if you're going to blow someone's mind, right?) Scooting around toward the Western edge, we rounded the corner and the wind instantly blasted us – ice cold and incessant! We could see the glow of Time's Square peeking through buildings, but otherwise it was blocked so we made a hasty retreat. As we rounded the corner going back the other way I looked back and asked, "Mohammed! Was that cold!?" Definitively he replied, "yes." A-ha! Finally! That made us all grin and laugh and I checked to make sure my ears hadn't entirely frozen and cracked off. They were there.

We asked him if he wanted to go eat Iraqi food and said "Iraqi?" while pantomiming eating. We got only a quizzical look. Are you hungry? "No". Do you want to go get Iraqi food for your mother? "My mother is fat!" Oh dear. I'm not sure, but I think he didn't believe that there was Iraqi food in New York – and also, it's possible that our communication skills weren't quite top notch. Aaron said, "in New York there is any food!" "…As you like."

We got down as easily as we'd gotten up.

The restaurant, La Kabbr, is in Hell's Kitchen and the cab dropped us off right in front. Only two tables were occupied when we came in and we sat on the other side of the restaurant from them, away from the drafty front door. Mohammed was so happy. There was a big Iraqi flag hanging in the corner and Iraqi paraphernalia all over the walls. We sat and instantly Mohammed started to sing softly, I asked him "You know this song? You know this music?" "Yes!" "Who is that picture of up there?" "Theese!" (pointing to the speakers in the ceiling.) A picture of the singer. Cool.

The menu was written in English, so I read out loud "Babaganouj! Hummus! Dolma! Kabob!" And Mohammed's smile got bigger. He hadn't eaten Iraqi food the entire time he'd been here! Our waitress came over, clearly Iraqi, so we asked her to speak with him in Arabic about his order because we were doing a terrible job – and, again, the floodgates opened and all Aaron and I could do was watch the conversation take place. It was a joy just to be there for this. In English, she said to us, "You are doing a very nice thing for this boy." I said, no-no, not me! Him! - pointing to Aaron. And Aaron said, No, not me! and then he added something about just being thankful to be there. We ordered a small amount of food; some chai, dolma, babaganouj and for Mohammed, Kabob.

Two minutes after the waitress left a large man came to our table. Farouk! The restaurant owner and chef, wearing a buttoned black vest over his bright white double-breasted chef jacket – with a nehru collar, no less! (Serious style!) He talked with Mohammed and us for quite some time and was ecstatic. The chef said, "I told him, You are a lucky boy! There are so many hundreds of children who could be helped by coming here." I would bet that could be shifted into the thousands. After Farouk left, course after course began to arrive – a special delicious soup (shorbpa = yum!) followed by huge salads and our appetizer and… and by then Aaron and I suspected that, perhaps, this was not the normal treatment around here.

Mohammed taught us the Arabic names for various vegetables and food items. When I said "I love olives." I was told they were (phoenetically, here) 'zaytune'. I learned 'eta habibi zaytune!' …which I think means either, my lovely olive or, perhaps, I love olives. Something like that. Personally, I like that as a term of endearment. (Although, if perchance I ever have an Arabic-speaking honey I would not necessarily want to whisper, during an intimate moment, 'Sweetheart…darling…I love olives.')

Coyly, Mohammed told us that at the 'Ron-aild MackDon-aild' house in Philadelphia there are some boys from Puerto Rico – one of whom speaks many languages and who wanted Mohammed to teach him how to say 'girls' in Arabic. Habibi. So the little Puerto Rican boy ran around saying 'Habibi! Habibi! I love habibi!' Mohammed found this very funny. But then I was confused about if a woman can say Eta habibi (I love you) to a man if habibi means girl. We spent a great deal of time on this, Aaron drawing bathroom door man/woman symbols with speech bubbles and arrows so that we could really get a clear view of things. It turns out that Eta habibi goes both ways… perhaps.

Toward the end of our meal, our friend the chef showed back up at the side of our table. This time accompanied by a larger man with a tight haircut and neatly trimmed beard. "This man is a singer – very famous in Iraq." This was Raad Barakat and apparently like meeting a rockstar for Mohammed – he recognized Raad from T.V. and knew his songs! (Was this the singer from the pictures on the wall?) (see: http://raadbarakat.com/) Raad told us that he left Iraq by way of Yemen because Sadaam wanted to kill him. He described living under Sadaam and said that all the artists had to make all of their work about Sadaam – he said that, in this regard, even the artists were soldiers. (His life story is on his website, but written in Arabic – he's going to send it to me in English though – if you're interested let me know and I'll send it on.)

Raad stood at our table so long that he actually just wound up sitting with us to continue talking. He was great about talking a lot to Mohammed and then translating for us. Mohammed told him –

"I went to the top of the tallest building in America today. I am sad because I don't know why Sadaam Hussein could not let us have such a building. I do not know why he had to kill so many people."

Lord.

Raad told us that we should do everything in our power to help Mohammed stay in the U.S. – even if it meant that his mother had to go back to Iraq. Aaron explained the problem with that; even if he applied for a student visa, if he got denied he would not be allowed to ever come back – which would mean no more coming to the U.S. for treatments, which would mean he would have no chance when he outgrows his prosthetic leg in a year. Raad shook his head and we discussed what great ambassadors these children of Iraq would be if only we would bring them here to help them. Why doesn't the U.S. allow more children to come for treatment? The possible volume of them would be too alarming to our citizens. Farouk assured me that "what happened to him – it was not done by an Iraqi". He took me aside and said, "Me, I am a Christian, this one (Mohammad) he is Sunni, and this one (Raad) he is Shiite – look at us, you see us here and we are family."

They told us that if the U.S. left Iraq now it would be very bad, Iran would come over the border in a heartbeat.

I tried to get my credit card to Farouk before Aaron could get his out, but he was too fast and we were quickly engaged in a dual of thrusting credit cards toward our host. Seriously, just as we got our fists out over the table (for a round of rock paper scissors), Farouk began to speak – he said to us "I told (Mohammed): I am an Iraqi, You are an Iraqi, I will take care of you!" And he would not let us pay him anything. And then he had the kitchen send out dessert.

Raad and Farouk took a break from our table and Aaron grabbed the chance to run to the ATM next door so that we could leave a generous tip. In the meantime, Mohammad began drawing another map. He drew the streets of Fallujah. He drew a street that appeared to dead end at a river. He drew a little box nestled in the corner made by where the road stopped at the river. "This my house." "Oh! Wow," I said, "you lived right by the water? That must have been nice." "Yes, very nice." Then he pointed and said "Boom!" And I understood that there had been a bridge there but now it was gone.

Mohammed's right lower leg is gone too. And so is his little baby cousin. A car-bomb headed for a U.S. convoy exploded while Mohammed and his cousin happened to be right there. Contrary to what Farouk had to say, Aaron told me that Mohammed knows the various sects of his old neighborhood and could probably narrow it down to two or three who probably are responsible for the bombing.

Leaving La Kabbr was a warm flurry of hugs and kisses and photographs. Raad asked thirty times for us to email him the picture of him with Mohammed. Farouk packed up a massive bag of food for Mohammed's mother. (She's with him staying on Staten Island – a little fearful about getting out and about.) I had Farouk write a note to her requesting that she allow me to escort her and Mohammed back to the restaurant next weekend in order to hear Raad sing. (Apparently he packs the house!) And he promised to give us a V.I.P. table for the night too. We stepped out the door and Farouk came running out after us – he needed to introduce his young son who works in the kitchen to Mohammed. They hugged and kissed and grinned.

We had to walk a block to catch a cab and Mohammed was a total trooper. He seemed a mix of exhausted and ecstatic…but I might have just been projecting. My heart was burning as I saw them into the cab. I stumbled away and found myself at 46^th and 9^th, I knew the 1 train stopped at 42^nd and Broadway so I headed toward the lights. Past flashing theatres, tourists, bars and hustlers, the billion-dollar outrageous looking Church of Scientology and into the bright advertisement lights of Times Square. In all that flash there was only one reference to the war that we all paying for – a young man with a flimsy handwritten poster-board sign: TRUST PHYSICS, NOT BUSH! Whatever that means.

My face screwed up of it's own accord and as I wove my way through the ogling masses, the hot tears just came pouring down my cheeks.

++++++++++++++

You can check out the U.S. organization where Mohammed is staying here:

http://www.globmed.org/mohammed.html

And here is a quick link to the CNN report about Mohammed:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/09/07/damon.iraq.amputee.to.us.cnn

Blessings,

Hatti

--
"I call myself a radical conservative. Radical -- look it up in the dictionary. It means, getting to the root of things. Now, I'm a conservative because I want to conserve the potability of our drinking water. I want to conserve the non-polluted air we can breathe. I want to conserve the First Amendment to the Constitution. And I want to conserve whatever little sanity we have left." - Studs Terkel

Consuming War

2010-06-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Consuming War is an exhibition curated by Barbara Koenen for the Hyde Park Art Center
November 4 – January 20, 2008.
www.hydeparkart.org

Artists: Lynda Barry I Wafaa Bilal I Mary Brogger I Adam Brooks Burtonwood & Holmes I Michael Hernandez De Luna I Frederick Holland I Harold Mendez I Michael Rakowitz I Ellen Rothenberg Edra Soto I Dolores Wilber I Paula White

Consuming War is dedicated to local artist and activist Malachi Ritscher (left) who immolated himself at the base of a sculpture alongside Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway during rush hour on November 3, 2006, in an act of war protest. A memorial concert will open the exhibit on November 4, 2007, in honor of Malachi, who recorded hundreds of experimental music concerts in Chicago prior to his death. "I only get one death, I want to make it a good one." Read Malachi's final statement here.

Consuming War will feature the work of 14 artists whose practice has been consumed by war -- who examine us as we are consumed by war… as our consumption begets war… as our war is depicted and reported using the tools of consumption… as our country, our civil liberties, and our standing in the world is consumed in the gridlocked intersection of commerce and jingoism.

Consuming War will also present programs, events and collaborations that take place outside the Art Center. Instead of a traditional catalog or postcard, the exhibition announcement will be a mock advertising supplement distributed in Newcity Chicago. Artist Adam Brooks will produce 200 advertising cards on the CTA Red Line and various bus lines featuring provocative quotations from throughout history about war, freedom and consumerism. Former director of the National Museum of Iraq, Dr. Donny George, will talk about the state of the cradle of civilization with U of C professor McGuire Gibson and artist Michael Rakowitz. Journalist James Janega will talk about his experiences covering Iraq for the Chicago Tribune. See all events listed at right.

Participating Artists:

Wafaa Bilal was born in Iraq in 1966 and lived through the rule of Saddam Hussein, arrested and tortured for his political artwork before escaping to Kuwait, where he was imprisoned again, eventually making his way to the U.S. He is now a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For his recent project, “Domestic Tension,” Bilal lived in a room at Flatfile Gallery for a month under constant surveillance of a live webcam hooked to a paintball gun that anyone could fire online. Bilal received over 60,000 paintball hits, and millions of webhits for this project, which received international attention. For Consuming War, he will present Al Qaeda R US, “a visually poetic exposition of United States intervention in selective parts of the world between 1948 and the present. The artist's intention is to draw attention to the origins of much of the hatred directed toward the US government. The work illustrates atrocities committed by the US military and the CIA against the people of Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Korea, VietNam, Panama, Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan. The piece is a witness to the present for the past that has never passed.” Courtesy of Flatfile Galleries.

In 1993 Mary Brogger created a Persian Rug (below) out of plasma cut steel, each piece teetering on fragile pins. She created this floating carpet in reaction to the first Persian Gulf war. It belies the beauty of the delicate patterns, as ancient traditions are impacted by cold hard steel. This piece will be joined by a 2006 sculpture, All; Everything.

Adam Brooks, of the duo Industry of the Ordinary, has for many years used text as his medium to survey the landscape of political thought. Often soliciting the input and opinions of others, he has compiled the Freedom Wall at Huron and Lake, papered the streets of Chicago with historical quotes on politics, created soapboxes for pronouncements, and with his wife, Cindi Canary of the Campaign for Political Reform, diagrammed political contributions for a recent Illinois gubernatorial race.

Tom Burtonwood & Holly Holmes’ prints and sculptures juxtapose advertising flyers from local grocery stores with the images of weapons created by the US 's most powerful weapons manufacturers. Commenting on the foundation on which our economy is built and fed, they have created room-sized installations of tanks, often to scale, papered with these colorful candy-colored flyers. Courtesy of GardenFRESH, Chicago.

Beat poodle Fred Milton’s brilliant tirades against the war, and specifically against George Bush and Dick Cheney is the creation of cartoonist Lynda Barry. Milton’s pointed poems are simple, playful and cathartic. A demoralizing sign of the times, several of the “ alternative” publications who carry Barry's strip have cancelled or threatened to censor her Fred Milton strips.

Michael Hernandez de Luna makes and mails stamps, subverting the iconic representation of our culture, playing with the attentiveness of the US Postal Service, asserting the voice of the artist and activist in the face of Federal persecution/prosecution. Courtesy of Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago.

Edra Soto Fernandez’s One Vision: Hollywood Soldiers (right) is an ensemble of video stills of actors playing soldiers in Hollywood movies. Since both the government and media censor images of real soldiers, real blood and real coffins, America's enthusiasm for the war is based more on fictitious portrayals from Hollywood and global media, rather than actual events.

Frederick Holland's rage and cynicism has been close to the surface for years but previously centered on highly crafted objects that aestheticized sexuality and violence. Since the current war, Holland has turned his focus to popular culture – games, advertising, quizzes and educational materials – as his vehicle for critique of the policies and assumptions that mainstream culture takes for granted. Courtesy of Flatfile Galleries, Chicago.

Harold Mendez looks at confinement – corrals, fences – and extrapolates to Guantanamo, to Abu Graib, to the unknown extraordinary rendition abroad. Mendez starts from Nevada bomb sites and draws from literary and historical images.

Michael Rakowitz's body of work has presented a range of responses to US consumerism, including building homes for the homeless from trash bags and HVAC vents to recreating his Iraqi grandfather's import business. He will include versions of two recent works in Consuming War. “The invisible enemy should not exist,” in which archeological artifacts missing from the Baghdad Museum, as documented by the Oriental Institute, are laboriously recreated from commercial packaging wraps (right), and “Enemy Kitchen” a cooking class based on his mother’s Iraqi recipes. Courtesty of Lombard-Freid Projects, NYC.

Ellen Rothenberg takes a critical look at the adoption of camouflage by the fashion industry, and employs propaganda imagery from previous wars to entreat people to turn in their garments for the war effort. The artists’ statement may be found here.

Dolores Wilber’s video projection, Tooth and Nail (below), combines images of hand grenades, ash, nails, silver-covered teeth and a spinning safety pin. It reflects several years of research on individual acts of violence and the faith that is touted or reflected in suicide bombings, beheadings, acts of humiliation and torture – the overwhelmingly gruesome and personal violence of war.

Paula White is a fifth generation textile artist, home healthcare nurse and a student in Northwestern University's masters program in creative writing. At a July Prostrations for Peace event, prayer flags were made which she has sewn into colorful quilts.

The Consuming War exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center ran through January 20, 2008. CW featured the work of 14 artists -- Lynda Barry, Mary Brogger, Wafaa Bilal, Adam Brooks, Burtonwood & Holmes, Michael Hernandez de Luna, Fred Holland, Harold Mendez, Michael Rakowitz, Ellen Rothenberg, Edra Soto, Dolores Wilber, and Paula White. Ranging from steel carpets and inflatable bombs to postage stamps and cooking classes, their work is thoughtful, sharp and inspiring. Click here for some photos of the show and the opening.

We've gotten some great press on Consuming War. Here are some links for highlights:

Spencer Dew for Chicago Artists News
Joanna HInkel for Chicago Artists News "Most Important Exhibition of 2007"
Carrie Ruckel for CAN-TV
Alan Artner for the Chicago Tribune
Hello Beautiful for James Janega's talk
Chicago Reader
Time Out Chicago
New City
Chicago Weekly

CW will also include several interesting events that will give you a chance to participate -- including talks by Chicago Tribune journalist James Janega about reporting from Iraq; Geraldine Gorman, a nurse with the international aid group Emergency, and a special conversation with Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, the former head of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. And, at the opening, plan to join us for a memorial concert by Michael Zerang and Jim Baker, in remembrance of their friend Malachi Ritscher, who immolated himself in protest of the war, here in Chicago last November. (Read more about Consuming War here)

CONSUMING WAR

Articles, Reviews, Podcasts

EVENT CALENDAR
November 4 - Exhibit Opens
2–3 pm Concert for Malachi
Musicians Michael Zerang and Jim Baker perform in memory of Malachi Ritscher.
3–5 pm Reception
Meet the artists

November 11 (Veteran’s Day)
12–4pm Prostrations for Peace
Community gathering for peace, with yoga and tai chi practice, peace offerings, prayer flags, poetry, music and more.
3 pm Emergency
Geraldine Gorman, RN, PhD, speaks about Emergency, the international relief organization providing treatment to civilian war victims.
4–6 pm Meanwhile in Baghdad…
Exhibition opening at the Renaissance Society, 5811 S. Ellis.

November 25
3–5 pm Iraq Veterans Against the War Aaron Hughes and other veterans discuss Warrior Writer Project, Operation First Casualty, and other efforts to end the war by its veterans.

November 28
6–8 pm Reporting from Baghdad
Chicago Tribune journalist James Janega

December 5
6–8 pm Talk Back: Creating Histories
Artists Wafaa Bilal, Adam Brooks and Dolores Wilber

December 12
6–8 pm Talk Back: Buyer Beware
Artists Tom Burtonwood and Holly Holmes, Fred Holland and Michael Hernandez de Luna

January 9
6–8 pm Talk Back: Culture and Space
Artists Mary Brogger, Harold Mendez and Paula White

January 13
5–7 pm Enemy Kitchen
Artist Michael Rakowitz uses food as an element to facilitate
dialogue and collaboration by preparing a meal based on his
Iraqi mother’s home recipes. RSVP required.

January 16
3–5 pm Consuming Culture
Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, former Director of the
National Museum of Iraq, with University of Chicago
Professor of Mesopotamian Art McGuire Gibson and artist Michael Rakowitz

Consuming Thanks....
Consuming War has been supported by Newcity Chicago, The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq, Experimental Station, and the generous contributions of Jane Fulton Alt, Sidney Barton, Kim Freiders, John Himmelfarb and Molly Day, Esther Grimm, Justine Jentes and Daniel Kuruna, Laurel Lipkin, Jackie Kazarian and Peter Cunningham, Beverly Koenen, Annie Morse, Tim Samuelson, Paul Klein, Harold Olin, Karen Paluzzi Steele, Laura Samson, Eva Silverman, Paula White, and Roberta Zabel.

Graphic design: Laura Tan Exhibition design: John Vinci

And thanks to the staff of HPAC, Chuck Thurow, Allison Peters, Kate Lorenz, Chris Hammes, Colleen Coyne and everyone who helped and inspired us.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
US president and general, 1953

War Rugs

2010-06-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

These are re-creations of Afghan War Rugs, made from loose spices, in the spirit of Tibetan Buddhist mandalas.

In 2001, when the US invaded Afghanistan, I began recreating Afghani war rugs in public performances.

Afghani war rugs first appeared twenty-five years ago, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the traditional weavers, primarily women, began to incorporate images of weapons into their traditional floral, animal and geometric patterns. Subtle at first, the military iconography eventually dominated the textiles, erasing all but the most incidental remnants of centuries of previous motifs.

I was moved by the tragic nature of this cultural and aesthetic phenomenon, and wanted to feel what it was like to create something so brutal. Adopting the practice of the Tibetan Buddhist monks who make elaborate sand mandalas that they then destroy, I constructed war rugs like mandalas made from loose spices and seeds. Taking up to 6 days to complete, the colorful and fragrant installations exist only temporarily. Once complete with fringe and popper firecrackers attached, they are tread upon, but the footsteps only reveal their impermanence.

The first war rugs I swept up into jars at the end of each exhibition. Now I record the pieces as “monoprints,” fixing the remaining spices to cloth with clear medium. The prints retain much of the color and aroma of the rugs, as well as the pattern of footprints and other incidents that the installation endured.

Afghan War Rug No 35, Paratroop Version (SOLD) 2004

This "rug" was an installation that I made for Art Chicago in 2004, at Navy Pier. It is

Creating a spice war rug at the Museum of Contemporary Art, November 2007.

I made my 7th spice war rug, Baluchi Drixa, for the Mapping the Self exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. It was on display until March, 2008, when I made some prints and swept it up. Not too worse for wear, there were only a few footprints and little messes in the pattern. I'll have photos of the prints soon.

made out of paprika, poppy seed, tumeric, ginger, fennel, coffee, flour, red and black pepper,mace, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

I placed the spices carefully on a mat, without any glue. It took about 5 days to finish it. Once the pattern is filled, I complete it with cotton fringe, that has popper firecrackers attached.

If you step on the fringe..."POP"!

Link Outlaw A / NOVA War Rugs on flickr

War Rug Prints

2010-06-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Failed Buddhist, I stopped pouring the spices into a jar at the conclusion of the installation, and began to make prints of the rug installations, preserving the footsteps and other transgressions.

Inspiring Guns tank Afghan War Rug, 2003
Spices, acrylic on canvas, 66 1/4 x 46 inches
Impressions 1, 2 and 3

Mashadi War Rug, 2003,
above: spices, acrylic on canvas, below: spices, acrylic, cotton, popper firecrackers on linen

Silk Road War Rug, 2006
below, 1-3 impressions: spices, acrylic on canvas

More War Rugs

2010-06-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Koenen -- More War Rugs
Other War Rug Installations, 2003 - present

Back to War Rugs, War Rug Prints, Home

Afghan War Rug No. c35, Paratroop version, ak-74 (SOLD)
As installed at Columbia College Glass Curtain Gallery, 2003.

Ersari Turkoman Rug (Poppies, AK-47s),
As installed at Three Arts Club, Chicago, 2003

Knight's Castle, Ptuj Slovenia, 2005
10 feet x 3 1/2 fee

Silk Road War Rug
installed at the Chicago Tourism Center, 2006

Baluchi Drixa
at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
November 2007 - March 2008

Top: Creation
Bottom: Destruction

All these war rugs are made from loose spices and seeds, including poppyseeds, sesame seed, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, fennel, black and red pepper, mace, salt, flour, etc.

Each is based on a real war rug, although patterns may vary.

Cow on Parade

2010-06-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

The sweetest, and heaviest, of the Cows on Parade in Chicago during Summer 2000. Over 20,000 gumdrops were glued to the cow, courtesy of Favorite Brands International. The Cow mooved to Berwyn, on top of the meat counter at the Fair Share grocery store on Roosevelt Road, and is now in the Fruit section.

2010-06-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

My paintings, like the installations, use unusual materials and repetitive processes.
Some are for sale, contact me for prices. See titles, descriptions below.

Paintings from L to Right, top:

Duckweed, 2005, 66 x 72 inches, oil on canvas*; Aurora, 2002, pigment, cat litter, urethane on jute, 60 x 40 inches*; Blue Note, 1995, wax on linen; Black Sky, 2000, oil, acrylic, charcoal, enamel on jute, 72 x 66 inches;* Confetti, 1995, urethane and paper on canvas, 60 x 40 inches; Aluminium, 1995, acrylic, enamel on canvas, 60 x 40 inches; Dayglo, 1995, oil, pigment on jute, 72 x 66 inches; Blue on Red, oil, pigment on linen, 60 x 40 inches; Blue Sky, pigment, acrylic, pencil on canvas, 42 x 42 inches*; Poppyseed 1, 1994, poppyseeds, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 66 inches *; Dilly-dilly, 1995, urethane and lavender on linen, 60 x 40 inches; Rudy, 2000, sumach, pigment, urethane on canvas, 60 x 40 inches; Mum, 1996, beeswax on linen, 60 x 40 inches*; Poppyseed 2, poppyseeds, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 66 inches*; Hide, 2002, oil on linen, 60 x 40 inches*; Green on White, 1995, oil on canvas, 72 x 66 inches*; Winter, 1997, oil on canvas, 72 x 66 inches*; White on Blue, 1997, oil on canvas, 72 x 66 inches*

Paintings with an asterisk (*) are available for sale. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more..

Gumdrop Trees in Skokie

2010-06-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

Thousands of gumdrops were impaled onto the thorns of two hawthorne trees, by family and friends, on the coldest day of the year! They lasted through spring, faded and covered with ladybugs.

Gumdrop Trees in Skokie, 2002 at the Skokie Sculpture Park.

The Correct Time

2010-06-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

Even a broken clock is right twice a day . . .

The Correct Time, early incarnation

When Gary Indiana told this joke at a gallery talk in the late 1980s, referring to President Reagan, I experienced a startling revelation -- If I gather one broken clock for every minute in 12 hours.... I'll have all the time in the world!

...And it will always be the correct time, somewhere.

In 1989, I collected 720 broken clocks and watches, donated by people from around the world. Clubs, travellers, school groups sent me cuckoo clocks, alarm clocks, wrist watches, even a clock made from popsicle sticks! They were all installed at Gallery 2 of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with a list of all the donors. Now, what am I going to do with all this free time?

Buddha at the Hot Dog Stand

2010-06-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

What did the Buddha say at the Hot Dog Stand?

"Make me one with everything."

So I did.

On rice paper, L to R, from top: charcoal, plastic, silk flowers, oil paint, graphite, chocolate chips,
Sand, watercolor, hummus, chromium oxide, sesame seeds, tumeric,
poppyseeds, felt dots, glitter, oil paint, cat litter, charcoal,
grommets, spraypaint, wasabi, plastic eyes, candy dots, glass beads,
salt, plastic confetti, lavender, nail polish, flax,
burn holes, spray paint, red pepper paste, fake grass, sand, flowers + watercolor, charcoal and holes.

Shown at Westwerk eV, Hamburg, 1996; Ten in One Gallery, Chicago, 1997; LIPA, Chicago, 2002.

Selected individual pieces:

Wisdom

2010-06-13T20:53:00.001-07:00

Wisdom, 2004

50 oyster shells, wax medium, and ...
sand, salt, twine, coconut, rubber eraser, copper, caraway, cosmetic foundation, model railroad grass, lipstick, brewer’s yeast, turmeric, orange sugar, glitter, cinnamon, cotton balls, amaranth, fiberglass, ash, sesame seed, goose feathers, cat hair, lavender, breadcrumbs, red sugar, coffee, synthetic malachite, “yves klein” blue, yellow pigment, charcoal, steel wool, tea, blush, mica, paper confetti, sprinkles, pollen, chromium oxide, cocoa, dirt, graphite, purple pigment, indigo, toothpaste, glass beads, wasabi, tobacco, bronze powder, poppyseeds, opalescence.

Donated to Bridge Magazine, 2004 Shoebox Series. Divided up into 50 shoeboxes.

Grenade Cosies

2010-06-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

From top: Black Widow, Lucky Charms, Hornet, Flapper, Orange Crush, Sprinkles

Grenades are named after pomegranates, the ancient symbol of fertility. Grenadiers were the French soldiers who stood in the front to light the fuse, wait a few moments, then hurl the bomb at their enemy.

I began making grenade cosies as an experiment in how a traditional American craft could become influenced by war... much as the war rugs have been shaped by military occupation of Afghanistan.

My grandmother and aunts would lovingly crochet cosies for kleenex boxes and extra toilet paper rolls in a curious quest to disguise items considered unmentionable. Forty years later, I'm reminded of that when families buy protective vests for their soldiers, or other families arm their youngsters in age-old cycles of violence. When war becomes everyday life, do grenades become the new unmentionables, covered up by grandmothers and loving aunts?

The price of a grenade in Bagdad has risen 200% in the last two months, and lots more people are carrying them. Perhaps they will become as much a fashion statement here in the U.S.?

There are several cosies on this page, and you can see more cosies here.

2010-06-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Barbara Koenen - War Rugs

These are re-creations of Afghan War Rugs, made from loose spices, in the spirit of Tibetan buddhist mandalas.

Link to More War Rugs, and War Rug Prints and see the new Silk Road and Outlaw A / NOVA War Rugs on flickr

In 2001, when the US invaded Afghanistan, I began recreating Afghani war rugs in public performances.

Afghani war rugs first appeared twenty-five years ago, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the traditional weavers, primarily women, began to incorporate images of weapons into their traditional floral, animal and geometric patterns. Subtle at first, the military iconography eventually dominated the textiles, erasing all but the most incidental remnants of centuries of previous motifs.

I was moved by the tragic nature of this cultural and aesthetic phenomenon, and wanted to feel what it was like to create something so brutal. Adopting the practice of the Tibetan Buddhist monks who make elaborate sand mandalas that they then destroy, I constructed war rugs like mandalas made from loose spices and seeds. Taking up to 6 days to complete, the colorful and fragrant installations exist only temporarily. Once complete with fringe and popper firecrackers attached, they are tread upon, but the footsteps only reveal their impermanence.

The first war rugs I swept up into jars at the end of each exhibition. Now I record the pieces as “monoprints,” fixing the remaining spices to cloth with clear medium. The prints retain much of the color and aroma of the rugs, as well as the pattern of footprints and other incidents that the installation endured.

Creating a spice war rug at the Museum of Contemporary Art, November 2007.

I made my 7th spice war rug, Baluchi Drixa, for the Mapping the Self exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. It was on display until March, 2008, when I made some prints and swept it up. Not too worse for wear, there were only a few footprints and little messes in the pattern. I'll have photos of the prints soon.

Afghan War Rug No 35, Paratroop Version (SOLD) 2004

This "rug" was an installation that I made for Art Chicago in 2004, at Navy Pier. It is made out of paprika, poppy seed, tumeric, ginger, fennel, coffee, flour, red and black pepper,mace, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

I placed the spices carefully on a mat, without any glue. It took about 5 days to finish it. Once the pattern is filled, I complete it with cotton fringe, that has popper firecrackers attached.

If you step on the fringe..."POP"!

2010-06-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Muse

August 2 - 30, 2008
A monthlong exercise about pomegranates and hand grenades

Finestra Art Space 410 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL 60605 www.finestraartspace.com

Installation views at Finestra Art Space

Bottielli's Madonna of the Pomegranates (detail)

Did you know?

√ Pomegranates are an ancient symbol of fertility?

√ Pomegranates are said to be the fruit that Eve took from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden?

√ Grenades are named after Pomegranates?

√ The word for grenade and the word for pomegranate are the same in Hebrew, French, Spanish, Italian, Indonesian, Russian?

√ Grenadiers were the French soldiers in WWI who made up the front line to throw grenades?

√ The recent rise of the pomegranate's popularity in the US, corresponds closely with the declaration and escalation of the War on Terror?

The many seeds embedded in the pulp of the fruit came to symbolize fertility; the entire fruit, goddesses like the Phoenician Astarte (or Ashtoreth), Demeter and Persephone(Latin Ceres and Proserpina), Aphrodite (Venus), and Athena. Pomegranate trees were planted on the graves of heroes, perhaps to ensure that they would have many successors.

In the mythology of the cult of Eleusis, Persephone would not have had to stay on in Hades after her abduction had she not eaten a pomegranate there; because she had, she could not dwell perpetually with the other gods but had to spend one third of each year in Hades. The mother of Attys was said to have become pregnant by touching a pomegranate tree. In Rome, Juno was represented holding a pomegranate as a symbol of marriage. The tree, with its fragrant, fiery red blossoms, was also seen as a symbol of love and marriage, followed by childbirth. Brides wore wreaths made from its twigs. In the Judeo-Christian era, the symbolism was more spiritual, and the fruit came to refer to God's bountiful love. The red juice of the pomegranate became a symbol of the blood of martyrs; the seeds enclosed in a single fruit, the individual Christians united in the Church community. Since the rind of the fruit is tough but its juice sweet, the pomegranate came to symbolize the priest: severe on the outside, indulgent on the inside. In baroque symbolism, the image of a pomegranate, split open to reveal its wealth of seeds, stood for generosity (charity, Hospitaler orders).

— Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism,
translated from German by James Hulbert,
Facts On File, New York, 1992, pp. 271-272

2010-06-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Barbara Koenen

art during peace time and during war

Making a spice war rug, Baluchi Drixa, depicting a world map and local map with mountains, roads and villages in Afghanistan, for the exhibition "Mapping the Self" at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Baluchi Drixa, complete

Barbara Koenen

Enews 11/14/11 "War Rug Project Update 5"

Enews 10/14/11 "War Rug Project Update 4"

Enews 09/18/11 War Rug Project Update 3

Enews 09/09/11 War Rug Project Update 2

Enews 08-28-11 War Rug Project Update

Enews 08/08/11

The War Rug Project in Grand Rapids is less than a month away...

Enews 07/25/11 "War Rug Project Update - Fundraising"

The War Rug Project Fundraising Campaign Launched!

Enews 07/16/11 "Summer Muse... Arts Enews"

Summer Muse

Coming Soon-- The War Rug Project

The War Rug Project at GRAM/Art Prize 2011

9/11 War Rugs, Then and Now

Remembering 9/11

Why Supporting Afghan Women is Imperative to Peace

Summer Muse

Coming Soon-- The War Rug Project

War Rug Project Launches

Muse: Pomegranates and Hand Grenades

Activist for Afghan Women Founds Community College in Kabul

My City's Still Breathing, Co-Prosperity School,

My Audacity of Hope -- Reverse Samson Effect

Letter from a friend

Consuming War

War Rugs

War Rug Prints

More War Rugs

Cow on Parade

Gumdrop Trees in Skokie

The Correct Time

Buddha at the Hot Dog Stand

Wisdom

Grenade Cosies

Barbara Koenen

The War Rug Project
Fundraising Campaign Launched!