All posts in New York Mural

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News Links (includes Chicago also, NY times article below):

News 12, New York
Graffiti artist crosses Atlantic for Bronx tribute

NY Times: Fire Victims Gain a Little Immortality Through Art
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/nyregion/19mural.html?ref=nyregion

Hearbeat News
Bronx Victims Memorialised in Art

Bridges TV: Chicago Mural Banning
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271525776/bclid307734328/bctid769305237

NY1: Father Of Bronx Fire Victims Receives Gifts From The Community
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=12&aid=68841

WBAI: Asia Pacific Forum: Graffiti as Knowledge: AerosolArabic in the U.S.
http://www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=69#158

Chicago Tribune: Breaking Down a Cultural Wall
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0704150358apr16,1,5867134.story

Chicago Sun-Times: Muslim group wants apology from Stone
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/343113,CST-NWS-MURAL16.article

Chicagoist: Painted Into a Corner
http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2007/04/16/painted_into_a_corner.php

Altmuslim.com: An Edgy Take On Islamic Art Hits The Galleries
http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1890_0_26_0_C

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/nyregion/19mural.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Fire Victims Gain a Little Immortality Through Art
Robert Caplin for The New York Times

Aisse Magassa, with two of her children, in the Bronx by a mural dedicated to friends and relatives who died when their house burned down.

By TRYMAINE LEE
Published: April 19, 2007

Aisse Magassa slowly rolled her wheelchair to the wall of the old building, carrying a can of spray paint and with four of her little girls squirming behind her. The air was cold, and droplets of rain crashed softly onto the hijab that covered her hair. The brightly painted wall, at 56 East Mount Eden Road in the Bronx, lit up an otherwise drab stretch of auto repair shops and dollar stores.

She steadied the chair with one hand, and with the other she gripped the can, jamming down on the nozzle until a stream of bright blue paint erupted and splashed on the wall.

With sweeping strokes she added her touch to the mural that Mohammed Ali, a well-known British graffiti artist and a fellow Muslim, had dedicated to Ms. Magassa’s 10 friends and relatives who died last month after a fire erupted in their house in the Bronx. Five children from the extended Magassa family died, as did four children and the mother of the Soumare family.

“We’re doing a lot better now,” said Ngoundo Magassa, 16, who also helped fill out the wall.

Looking on, Manthia Magassa, Ngoundo’s mother, said softly: “This is good. That is all I can say.”

With each stroke Aisse Magassa, who is still recovering from injuries she suffered in the fire, and Ngoundo Magassa seemed to ease a little more of their collective pain. Soon, with each dash of color, a poignant message became clear: From right to left, in Arabic was written “From God we came,” and then, in English, “To Him we shall return.”

“I hope that this mural will help the families deal with their grief, help them understand their grief,” said Mr. Ali, who had spent two days working on the large mural. “That all of us, Muslim, Christian, whatever your faith, we come from God and to him we shall return.”

The mural, about 20 feet wide, decorates a wall along the side of a building that once housed a restaurant and that is owned by Eddie Mohammed, a member of the local community board.

Mr. Ali was in the Bronx as part of a tour of the United States featuring mural painting, lectures and workshops on street art and Islam and specifically Mr. Ali’s interplay of graffiti art and Islamic calligraphy.

The tour was organized in part by an arts group in England and the relief agency of the Islamic Circle of North America, a grass-roots group. It was to include stops in Chicago, New York, Boston and New Brunswick, N.J., with murals being erected in several of the cities.

This week’s visit to the Bronx, Mr. Ali said, was the most important.

“The children that died in the fire are our family. We should all see our children in them, our brothers and sisters,” he said. “The people who are rich and famous, we hear about them when they die. But what about these children? It is up to us to do something so that they are remembered and the survivors feel special.”

The Magassa and Soumare families, Muslim immigrants from the West African country of Mali, have received a heavy dose of material and emotional support from Muslims and non-Muslims of various ethnicities and nationalities since the fire, one of the deadliest in recent New York history. The mural dedication was no different.

“These are my sisters,” said Malika Bey Rushdan, who works for the Islamic Circle and who is an Irish-American convert to Islam. “These are my sisters in the faith, and they are closer to me than my own blood.”

She said her organization provided the art supplies for the mural and Mr. Ali’s efforts to “uplift the spirit of these families and the greater community, which has been deeply impacted by this tragedy.”

Around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, Mr. Ali sprayed the last of the names of the 10 victims on the wall. Women from the two families wept as they watched their dead loved ones become part of one of the most sacred forms of street art in New York City — a memorial in graffiti.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

The names of the children were scrawled.

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Then 10, the lone adult who died.

“It’s beyond me,” Mr. Ali said, moments later, stepping away from the wall, as members of the two families thanked him again and again. They looked at the wall and back to him, before walking away from the colorful wall into the gray neighborhood.

“Today changed me. Today I truly tasted the fruits of what art can bring,” Mr. Ali said.

“All I could hear was them weeping behind me,” he said. “This is spiritual, taking graffiti to the next level, reaching out to the community. Not just this community, but Muslims and Christians and Jews. This is something really powerful.”

By Abid Hussain (Arts Council England)

Our first morning in New York starts as our evening ended with lots of rain, the weather is gloomy and things don’t look good for a start on the Bronx mural. We’ve got a busy morning scheduled, with meetings planned with the video crew and Azeem Khan from ICNA.

10.30am and we have lift off, Musa our film maker arrives followed shortly by Azeem, the team gathers for a debrief, media attention for the New York visit is strong with interest in documenting the programme coming from Associated Press, Reuters, the BBC and the New York Times. Azeem also informs us that there is an opportunity to go on local radio on Tuesday evening.

Debriefing done, Muhammed, Azeem and the video crew head for the Bronx, Hassan and myself head for Columbia university to meet Ruhi, our co-ordinator on campus who is busy putting the final touches to an arts exhibition that will run side by side with tonight’s seminar.

We have our first experience of the New York subway! We end up a few blocks away from where we intended but take a scenic walk past Central Park on route to Columbia.

Columbia is a grand imposing campus in central New York, Ruhi takes us through the campus to the Heyman Center for Humanities where we will be presenting tonight.

The library at Columbia, a lone user braves the weather!

Over coffee with Ruhi we feel a really good buzz for tonight’s event, she is excited about the seminar and the arts exhibition, we’re all expecting a good sized crowd.

Meanwhile in the Bronx little progress has been made at the mural site, the rain has fallen steadily all morning, due to the heavy rain water bubbles have appeared on the wall! With rain stopping the mural, Mohammed and the video team visit the site of the recent tragic fire, a strong reminder of the inspiration behind the wall mural. New York Times Feature on Bronx Fire

Its 6pm and we’re at the Heyman center, the arts exhibition is up and provides a burst of colour on the ground, the participating artists are all nerves and giggles, for many this is their first opportunity to showcase their work, the artists come from a range of diverse muslim backgrounds including Muslims of Turkish, Syrian, Pakistani and American origin.

The seminar room is a a beautiful setting, rows of books line the wall providing a great backdrop for tonight’s presentations.

The crowds begin to gather at 7pm making their way up from the exhibition downstairs, already there is a real enthusiasm amongst delegates inspired by the artwork downstairs.

Ruhi starts proceedings shortly after the evening Maghrib prayer, the room is packed with eager delegates, there is standing room only at the back and the balcony on the third floor is opened to accommodate the level of attendance!

Four hours later and the seminar draws to a close what was intended to be a two hour programme has somehow doubled in length, the energy of the audience is reflected in the strong interest in purchasing digital prints of Mohammed’s work.

Questions from the floor come thick and fast throughout the seminar, Hassan is questioned about the Muslim attitudes in the UK post 7/7, I’m asked to comment on the Islamic evidences supporting the different positions on Music in Islam. Mohammed answers a range of questions exploring the inspiration behind his work, the parameters within which he operates and the artistic role models that have inspired him. Christie Zabon from Muslim Hip Hop who is in attendance also gets involved in the debate exploring the artistic creativity within the Muslim Music scene.

Four hours later and the seminar draws to a close what was intended to be a two hour programme has somehow doubled in length, the energy of the audience is reflected in the strong interest in purchasing digital prints of Mohammed’s work.

Questions from the floor come thick and fast throughout the seminar, Hassan is questioned about the Muslim attitudes in the UK post 7/7, Abid is asked to comment on the Islamic evidences supporting the different positions on Music in Islam. I answer a range of questions exploring the inspiration behind his work, the parameters within which he operates and the artistic role models that have inspired him. Christie Zabon from Muslim Hip Hop who is in attendance also gets involved in the debate exploring the artistic creativity within the Muslim Music scene.

As the event draws to a close, a flurry of business card exchanges take place, after a turbulent time in Chicago, New York has delivered a homerun!