Call for Female Jewish OR Muslim Artists

Distant Cousins: Jewish and Muslim Women Speak Art Exhibit 

Sponsor: Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. 
Jan Hanvik, Executive Director107 Suffolk Street Room 312
New York NY 10002New York State Department of Cultural Affairs  

Description: Distant Cousins: Jewish and Muslim Women Speak  is an art exhibition. The curator is Yonkers artist Haifa Bint-Kadi, Palestinian-American and a New York public art artist, mosaicist, teaching artist, lecturer and participant of The Dialogue Project. 

Distant Cousins: Jewish and Muslim Women Speak was conceived to recognize and make public and explicit the intimate unearthed, unspoken conversations between Muslim and Jewish women. Expressed through art, these are conversations that may have remained in the subconscious, conversations that may inform the artist's work or conversations that may have needed a unique forum to be heard. 

Palestine is often at the center of Jewish and Muslim dialogue and many Palestinian and Jewish artists use their work to respond to the current situation, but the artist should not limit themselves to that conflict. Gender issues, patriarchal structures, motherhood, challenging traditional or cultural roles,  faith traditions, integrating feminism within faith practice, tradition or art and many other issues may be deeply embedded in an artist's work. 

Much of the dialogue that exists in the political realm is driven by male politicians and pundits. The personal is political, but the curator seeks to provide a venue without male constructs and one that is partly described and constructed and de-constructed by female voices. 

Artworks selected by the curator will have the opportunity to be showcased in an exhibition at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Center Gallery on April 18, 2011 to May 13, 2011. The exhibition will include artist talks, performances and short film screenings. The exhibition will also be traveling to other venues at the Philipse Manor Hall, Manhattanville College and others.  

ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to any living female artist who identifies as Jewish or Muslim. Works must be original, completed after September 1, 2009  
Entries must be postmarked by December 31, 2010
Artist Notification January 15, 2011
Reception  Friday, April 22, 2011 7:00 pm

 ENTRY FEES:  None
 LIMIT: There is no limit to number of entries by an individual artist.  

FOR A COMPLETE PROSPECTUS CONTACT: 
Haifa Bint-Kadi Email: bintkadih@mville.edu