Penn’s Middle East Center will collaborate with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture and Past Present Projects to develop community workshops led by German-Jordanian artist duo Areej Huniti and Eliza Goldox (Huniti Goldox), through which Al-Bustan’s constituents will create a site-specific installation to accompany Huniti Goldox’s film The Dido Problem, to be sited as an immersive experience in the historic sanctuary space at The Rotunda in West Philadelphia, as one of five installations that comprise Geographies of the Future: Traveling the Arab Majority World in Virtual Reality. This multi-site exhibition, which is being hosted at Penn through the Middle East Center, is being curated by Bridget Guarasci (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Franklin and Marshall College) and Jessica Holland (London-based curator specializing in contemporary Arab art); Heather Moqtaderi (Lecturer, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania, and Artistic Director of Past Present Projects) is serving as exhibition production manager. The Sachs Program’s Community Partnership Grant will specifically support bringing Huniti Goldox to Philadelphia to host community workshops at Al-Bustan’s West Philadelphia space, where participants will work with the artists create the multi-sensory installation to be presented with the film. Planning for this artist engagement will begin during the 2022-23 academic year, and the artist workshops will take place during the 2023-24 academic year.
In its fifth year, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation awarded 49 grants over the course of the year, for a total of $288,000 in funding. Across all grants and categories, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation supported a wide range of practices within the arts and humanities: reflecting and advancing our mission and supporting the communities we serve in myriad and significant ways.
For more details on the 2022 awards, click here.