Hopes and Dreams
Paintings by Vian Shamounki Borchert

Opening Reception
Friday, 31 May, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Vian will paint LIVE to  live oud music by Fuad Foty, starting promptly at 8 p.m.
See a sample performance here

“In life one has to be hopeful that the right thing will happen. And, one has to have dreams of peace for all to exist in this holy place in harmony and human brotherhood. When I think of Jerusalem, I think of a magical place filled with cultural heritage and architectural wonders. As an artist, the city of Jerusalem captivates me with its beauty from its amazing landmarks to its beautiful hills and valleys filled with olive and orange trees. The exhibit will have a number of landscapes and cityscapes depicting the city of Jerusalem along with expressionistic figurative artwork. I consider my paintings as visual poems, poems of hope, poems of love and poems that capture expression and human emotions."

The Holy City ©Vian Shamounki Borchert, 2012

A juried invitational exhibition conceived by Jennifer Heath of Baksun Books & Arts, and co-curated by Dagmar Painter features forty two artists from around the world who have created 62 works on paper that examine the shared historical and contemporary paths of three cultures: Palestinian, Irish and Native American. 

The title, “The Map is Not the Territory” is taken from a quotation by Alfred Korzybski, the father of general semantics, who said:"A map is not the territory it represents, but if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness". This means is that our perception of reality is not reality itself but our own version of it, or our "mental map."

The exhibition will examine themes such as occupation, conflict, resistance, land, food, home, identity, diaspora and more. All the works will be on paper, comprising drawings, photographs and prints.  Also included will be handmade books and some films.  During the run of the exhibition, there will be a series of speakers and special events.

We are proud to include some of the most notable artists from each of the three communities, including Susanne Slavick, Melanie Yazzie, Rawan Arar, Hani Zurob, Wahsontiio Cross, Helen Zughaib, Michael Elizondo, Najat el Khairy, Alan Montgomery and many more.