Painting the Syrian Migration and Anti-immigrant Sentiment

In late 2010, “Arab Spring” ushered in high hopes for change in the Middle East. Optimism abounded. But, as the months and years have passed, this Arab Spring has devolved into a hideous war in Syria and there is no end in sight.

Over the past three years, acclaimed Washington-based artist Helen Zughaib has created a series of 25 paintings that tell the stories of Syrian refugees fleeing war, starvation, chemical attacks, and imprisonment. The inspiration for her series was the narrative painting of Jacob Lawrence’s 1940-41 “Migration Series” depicting  the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North between World War I and World War II. 

Helen Zughaib will walk us through her Syrian migration series and Mr. Lawrence’s companion paintings. The result is a personal and powerful narrative that “show(s) the dignity, beauty, and perseverance of people fleeing in hopes of a better life.”

Bar opens at 11:30am, Lunch served at 12:15pm.

$25 members/$30 non-members/$10 lecture only.

Speaker: Helen Zughaib.