Paintings & Proverbs ~ Susan Hensel Gallery (window) installation

Paintings & Proverbs will exhibit through June 24 ~ 3441 Cedar Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55407

The twin cities DailyPlanet ~ http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/events/paintings-proverbs  lists it as top pic, so check it out~!

Paintings & Proverbs

My upcoming exhibition, Paintings & Proverbs includes portraits of elders who have settled in Minneapolis from e. Africa, along with sayings and proverbs which defend their old-world wisdom in their native languages ~ exploring ways in which we inherit our cultural wisdom and identity. It's been a fun way for me to learn to speak af-Soomaali (Somali language) and a few words of Oromo.

This exhibition will be on view from May 7 to June 24 ~ at Susan Hensel (Window) Gallery, 3441 Cedar Ave So, Minneapolis, MN 55407. The gallery is not open for this event - the exhibition is in the storefront window only, which faces Cedar Avenue. For this reason, there is no official opening, but I'll post a few celebratory events during the 7weeks in which the exhibition is up.

Thanks to my many collaborators, teachers, interpreters and friends from our e. African community ~ !
For more information:  http://mnartists.org/event.do?rid=332758

Portrait of Rade

Portrait of Khadra

Portrait of U

Cad iyo Caano

For the past six years, I've taught elders from east Africa about diabetes and carbohydrates, exercise and frostbite, but (as is the case with teaching), I learn a lot along the way. The folks who lived in rural Somalia lived healthier lives in many ways than we do here -  there was not much diabetes or obesity, and, routinely folks tell me that when they return to Africa they lose weight. But, the average age of mortality is only 48 - 54 years old for folks back home, and most of the elders we see here are far older than that.

Aqoon la'aan waa iftiin la'aan ~ (Without knowledge there is no light)

Back home, traditionally, one-third of our Somali elders were agricultural; one-third nomadic, and one-third city-dwellers. The agrarian folks grew their own maize and ground it into meal to make the staple food, cangeero. They grew pumpkins and greens, as well as sorghum, which was eaten as a grain. (Check out xawaash.com for more info -- including recipes -- on Somali cuisine.)  The nomads traded meat and milk from their goats and camels for grain and vegetables with the agricultural folks, and both traded with city-dwellers for other stuff. The insulin-like substance in camel milk explains the lower incidence of diabetes. Herbs and barks were used as medicine, to treat everything from GI illness to broken bones.

Elderly men who were nomadic earlier on in their lives are still in good health today, defying western medicine with their dietary habits of eating 'cad iyo caano' (pron. 'aad iyo aano'), which means a piece (of cooked goat meat) and milk. But, back home the meat was lean, grass fed, organic, and just moments from walking around to cooking on the fire. The camel milk, likewise, was fresh from grass fed animals, unpasteurized, with the cream on top.

Deg-dagi doorma dhasho ~ [Hurry hurry; no blessing (Haste makes waste)]

Nin ku siray wax kuu sheeg ~ (A man who has cheated you has told you something)

I've beem learning af-Soomaali (Somali language) from a few elders who live here in Minneapolis, by a method in which I've asked them to teach me the sayings and proverbs that they learned growing up, and which they hope to pass along to the next generation.  With these, I've created small paintings, which, along with my portraits will be featured in my next exhibition ~ at Susan Hensel Gallery (the window gallery) in Minneapolis (Cedar Ave. S. @ 35th Street) in mid-May. 

Yet Another New Portrait

Minneapolis Mosque

Portrait of Abdiweli

New Portrait

Portrait of Pam K

New Portraits ~ Ellie & Rafi

Portraits by Frank & Pam Gaard

A Defining Moment

Made peace and brought down a wall yesterday -  I wonder what today will bring.  The most I was hoping for was a generic neutrality, an understanding, forgiveness.  My anger had allowed me only fear, and misunderstanding, but after that melted away, all that remains is love. Only pure love; what a profound surprise. I'm still mystified by it. 

Stranger Danger, Wu-Chi, & On Vacation

Hello, Sweden (twice as many views from Sweden as US the last few months)~ what's up?!
This short video made in Stockholm warmed my heart - and, it tells a story which is so universal to the diaspora.


"There is no such thing as luminous grey. Is that part of the concept of grey, or part of the psychology, i.e. the natural history, or grey? And isn't it odd that I don't know?" - Ludwig Wittgenstein -Remarks on Colour

Portrait of Ellie

Portrait of Rafi

A Couple More Portraits

Portrait of Frank, acrylic on canvas

These pictures may have been posted before in various incarnations, because sometimes I'll put them away for awhile and let them ferment, come back later, and work on them some more.

Portrait of Jennie, acrylic on BFK Rives, 29" x 22"

Genesis 40

My painting, V'Henai Geffen L'Fanai (A Vine was Before Me) will exhibit in Dream Weavings - Interpretations Through Collaborations, at the Sabes JCC in Minneapolis opening Sunday, January 13th, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Sun Mee Chomet  and I created a collaboration of visual art and poetry for this exhibition based on the text from Genesis 40, when Joseph is in jail along with the king of Egypt's former baker and winemaker. The baker and cupmaker (as he's called) both have dreams and Joseph interprets them - one with a good outcome; one not so good. Joseph asks the winemaker to remember him when he gets out of prison, but is forgotten; Sun Mee's poem speaks of the act of remembering.

V'Henai Geffen L'Fanai (A Vine was Before Me), acrylic on paper, 25" x 38"

New Portraits

Portrait of Angela

Portrait of Sarah

Portrait of Jenny, in progress

New Portraits, or portraits newly photographed. One, Sarah, went into the show at TuckUnder so quickly that it didn't get photographed until now.

New Painting - Habaryarooyin at Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis

Habaryarooyin at Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis ~ acrylic on BFK Rives, 30" x 22"

Field Trips II

As I counted to 10 in Af-Soomaali, the first ten women heading to the vans clapped their hands, saying, "Ma'shaAllah!" Ultimately, there were 16 older Somali women, and 4 young women as interpreters, who joined us on our recent visit to the Minneapolis Art Institute (MIA).

The first stop on our tour was to view the ofrendas made by children. "Tan waa Jane," I introduced the docent. Shortly after we arrived, we found out that there was a misunderstanding and the tour had to end suddenly. . . something about either wanting a soda or going to the zoo. . . I am not sure. This is one reason for me to learn to speak more af-Soomaali (Somali language).

New Portrait

Twice as many views from Sweden than from the US this week, so what's up? My theory is that the E. African diaspora has spread people far and wide across the world, and so everyone still has relatives that they wonder about. I'm expecting to hear that "that is my uncle. Glad to know he's alive and well and living in Minneapolis."

Field Trips

One thing and another has come up, so no trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) from my East African adult day care centers have taken place in the past few months. I did invite a small group of Somali friends, including a nurse and her three children, ages 7, 9, and 18, along with a restauranteur, to a book tour at MIA in August. The tour was based on the excellent book Outcasts United, by Warren St. John.

Coincidentally, the family had recently moved to Minneapolis from Atlanta, Georgia, close to where the story in the book takes place. Clarkston, 11 miles east of Atlanta, is a town of mostly refugees, resettled from over 50 countries, currently many from Liberia, Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. My friends from Atlanta knew Clarkston well, as they used to drive there occasionally - 20 minutes by mini-van from their home in suburban Atlanta - to get good Somali food. Shortly after my friends arrived in Minneapolis, following their GPS from south Minneapolis to the West Bank and down Franklin Avenue, the youngest child, a son, made the observation that Minneapolis 'looked like a giant Clarkston'.

Anyway, they enjoyed the tour at MIA, and I'm sure the elders will also. I hope to start bringing groups again soon. It's always fun to see their reactions to the artwork, especially in the Islamic gallery where the response can be rather emotional.

Portrait of Justine with Fox

Af-Soomaali vocabulary for our next field trip:
Salaamaha (greetings)
galab wanaagsan (good afternoon)
iska warran (how are you?)
tan waa Jane (this is Jane)
sidee tahay? (how are you?)
kaalay (come here)
habaryarro, eedo (auntie, 2 forms)
toos! (wake up!)
adaa mudan (you're welcome)

October Portraits

New Portrait

Another New Portrait

Portraits by Frank Gaard, right; me - left ~ David double

Ditto above ~ Dual Portrait

4 - portrait installation by Frank & Pam Gaard

Islamic Designs

Patterns (just made of squares) have been on my mind lately. I recently taught a class for 16 Somali women elders, and introduced them to the idea of making their own Islamic art, based on patterns of squares. When I said that the infinite nature of geometric patterns represented the infinite nature of God, and that I had read that the repetition of creating the geometry was like hearing the voice (or breath) of Muhammad, a few of the women sat up straighter, and barely needed the help of our interpreter to know what had been said.