ACCOLADES
Seattle Weekly
Sadaa: Voices of Women
Visual Arts Pick by Andrew Engelson
October 27 – November 2, 2004
Women in Muslim culture are stuck between a “double pincer assault,” as Egyptian writer Nawal El-Saadawi once put it—on one side, they’re stereotyped as either meek or fanatical by Western media, and on another side, they’re expected to be silent and subservient by the more fundamentalist interpreters of Islam. “Sadaa: Voices of Women” (part of a larger festival of film and writing in Seattle this month) brings together four artists breaking the grip of those pincers.
Pakistani artist Ayesha Khan (who resides in the U.S.) creates big, expressionist paintings and woodblock prints that burst with female bodies and scrawls of calligraphy. Guita Monfaredi’s swirling, abstract paintings aren’t as focused as Khan’s, but still manage to capture the visionary quality of a Persian poet too, whom she admires. Lebanese artist Randa Hilal is the standout of the show—her mixed-media works offer a marvelous fusion of figuration with talismanic nude women, handmade papers, and oriental rug motifs all intertwining in a very personal vision.
Umber Kazmi’s depiction of Pakistani women is much more literal than the other three artists, but powerful nonetheless. The iconic image of the show is Kazmi’s “Enuf!” (pictured), a simple and potent statement of defiance. Gallery 110, 110 S. Washington St. Noon–5 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday. Exhibit ends October 30.
“The right hand raised in the foreground asks you to stop. If a painting could speak, this one would say: Stop stereotyping me.”
Also covered by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Planet Guru. The visual-art component of Sadaa opened at Gallery 110 during Pioneer Square’s First Thursday Gallery Walk.
NewSchool of Architecture & Design
Alumnus of the Year
Michael Stepner, NSAD Faculty
September 17, 2014
The faculty nominated and the Foundation Board unanimously selected you as the Alumnus of the Year. This is of course based on all your activities and initiatives of the past few years. Kurt Hunker wrote in his nomination submittal:
“She [Hanlon] is the very embodiment of the Pillars:”
- Preparation for Practice — Umber’s test-prep company, Funkaar Studios, has trained more ARE test-takers than any other in the US, several thousand.
- International Scope — she maintains an international practice and has projects in development in the Middle East.
- Urban Engagement — she is heading an effort to open a school of architecture in Sacramento to serve a population that has nothing in place now.
Steve Altman championed the nomination as Alumni of the Year. Congratulations!