“SenseAbility” at Art to Change the World’s See. Say. DO! Event – October 11 & 12

 

SenseAbility
Photo by Candy Kuehn (c) 2017

Craig Harris’ show SenseAbility is coming to Art to Change the World’s inaugural event – See. Say. DO! – at Squirrel Haus Arts on October 11 & 12, 2018. SenseAbility explores how our personal experiences and cultural narratives help us navigate our ongoing struggle to make the world a better place. Inspired yet haunted by the voice of the Elijah, Harris invites the Prophet of all time into our time, imagining him on a shared journey of transformation. Harris weaves music and visual textures with his memories of Bethlehem and new family connections in the West Bank. The show is about individual and community responsibility and accountability.

 

 

SenseAbility
Photo by Candy Kuehn (c) 2017

In SenseAbility an immersive sensory landscape surrounds the audience with the sounds, sights, smells, tastes… even the touch and feeling revealed in the visceral experience that is inescapable in a life under sustained occupation. How is destiny revealed in the face of scarcity and uncertainty? How is resilience, even joy, possible under such challenging circumstances? Can we imagine the Prophet Elijah as another sojourner on our pathway toward greater understanding? Despite a constant struggle to be one’s best self in the malaise of loneliness, doubt and oppression, Elijah beckons us to take up our mantle and discover what is possible.

 

Craig Harris premiered his multimedia dramatic work SenseAbility at the Open Eye Theatre stage in the Platform Series in 2017. For more information about that production, including video clips, visit this location on the Interference Arts web site:

https://interferencearts.com/inter-arts/senseability/

This new production of SenseAbility includes additional scenes and music, and integrates discussion with the audience about the themes in the show, with a focus on Continuous Traumatic Stress, a feature of historical trauma deeply present in the experience of people living under occupation in the Palestinian territories, and also connects with related experiences of multi-generational stress experiences in communities in the United States. The discussion includes a visit with Murad Owda, a scholar and social worker living in Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem.

 

Murad Owda

Murad Odeh is a writer, scholar and public speaker. He is Palestinian Refugee born and raised in Dhiesheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, Palestine. He is married and a new father.

An MSW Graduate from Washington University, with his undergrad at Bethlehem University for Social Work. He currently is a Community Mobilization Officer at BADIL: Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights in Bethlehem, Palestine (http://www.badil.org/en/). Murad is a leader within his community of Dheisheh and an advocate for all Palestinian refugees and working with some of the most marginalized communities in the West Bank of Palestine. He also organizes conferences for Palestinians throughout all of historic Palestine. He is a board member and avid volunteer of LAYLAC: Youth Action Center for Community Development in Dheisheh.

He has worked as a social worker for a multitude of prestigious organizations internationally, such as UNWRA, American Red Cross and Focus St. Louis. In his time in St. Louis, he was a member of Palestine Solidarity Committee and the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on Washington University campus.

Murad writes about Visualizing Palestine:

“The Palestinian case has been one of the most heated topics in modern history on the international level. Despite the past 70 years of the conflict, it is still unclear for many people what is really going on in Palestine, and what impact it has on the Palestinian people. As a fourth generation refugee who was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Palestine, I had no chance or option but to be engaged in the political atmosphere. Between the dark painful history and the traumatic unjust present we search and fight for a bright future using the last bit of hope remaining.”

 

 

Art to Change the World – See. Say. DO!

https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/craig-harris
Art to Change the World (ACW)
is a non-profit, diverse coalition of artists, educators, scientists, topic experts, and other change makers who join forces in service of positive social change. We employ the arts, education, audience engagement, and organizational partnerships to invoke positive discussion, reflection, and action.

Our Values:  Creativity, Collaboration, Inclusiveness, Effectiveness. 

See. Say. DO!

https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/events-b/

ACW will host a two-week event with an exhibition, performances and workshops around the theme of See. Say. DO from Oct. 4-14, 2018. The purpose of our events and exhibitions is to invoke positive discussion, reflection and action and to nurture an emphatic, socially-aware and action-oriented community.

Twenty established and emerging artists and their topic expert team members are creating social and environmental justice works, transforming the cutting-edge art space Squirrel Haus Arts in South Minneapolis into an inviting and magical universe which draws the visitor into a thought provoking, interactive journey with the intent of inspiring action in our community.

The team will learn from all the “topic experts ” as they build the art object and workshops. Topics include Recovery, Gender/Sexual Equality, Disability, Water Quality,Wellness, CTSD, Compassionate Conversations and Labor/Union issues.  The team will learn from all the “voices” as they build the art object and workshops.

Topics

  • Human Rights
  • Environmental Awareness & Action
  • Mind/Body Wellness & Healing

Artists in the Exhibit IncludeGrace Bianchi, Barbara Bridges, Kira Corser, Madelynne Engle, Maris Gilbert, Craig Harris, Laura Hill, Anne Kleinhenz, Barb Kobe, Candy Kuehn, Felecia Lenee, Wesley May, Nikki McComb, Layl McDill, Rebecca Ratzlaff, Kate Renee, Danielle Ricci, Shira Richter, Barry Scanlon, and Jill Waterhouse.

Location:

Squirrel Haus Arts
3450 Snelling Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN 55406

ADA Accessibility: The building is handicap accessible w/handicap parking and entrance in the back of the building; On street parking is also available for visitors.

For more information and tickets for SenseAbility and all other See. Say. DO! Events:

https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/calendar-events/2018-10/

Many of the See. Say. DO! events are free or very affordable. Tickets to SenseAbility are $10.

 

This project was made possible with support from the Howard B. & Ruth F. Brin Jewish Arts Endowment, a fund of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s Foundation.

 

Thanks to Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council for their support of Elijah in the Wadi.