Library celebrates art during Arab American Heritage Month
The Severn Library hosted an event for Arab American Heritage Month Monday displaying works by Palestinian artists and providing supplies for people to create their own Palestinian-inspired work.
Severn Library associate Sabrina Razvi hosted an event Monday night to share the work of three Palestinian artists, Samia Halaby, Malak Mattar and Narmeen Hamadeh, and set up stations for participants to collage, paint, illustrate and embroider.
Halaby is a Palestinian American visual artist with decades of experience. She is considered a pioneer of abstract art, according to her website. Mattar is a Palestinian from Gaza who began painting in 2014 during another assault on her home by Israel, according to her website. Hamadeh is the child of Palestinian parents born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition to illustrations, she runs an interior and landscape design studio.
The event, in honor of Arab American Heritage Month in April, attracted attendees who discussed their thoughts on the
Juan Johnson, of Severn, clockwise from left; Nathan Brown, of Beltsville; library associate Sabrina Razvi; and Bettina ZollJohnson create Palestinian-inspired art.
Returning to Annapolis after lobbying members of Congress for federal funding, Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation Tuesday to aid workers and businesses affected by the partial closure of the Port of Baltimore two weeks after a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people.
“We have to understand what happened two weeks ago was not a Maryland catastrophe,” Moore, a Democrat, said at his first bill signing of 2024. “This was a national catastrophe.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s bill
ongoing military conflict between Palestine and Israel since October as they created art.
“I was thinking about programs that were more inclusive to different age groups,” Razvi said Tuesday. “Everyone coming from different backgrounds could explore the artwork and express themselves through the art.”
Another library staff member brought needlepoint supplies for participants to create images of poppy flowers, a symbol of resistance in Palestine, Razvi said.
“It was a welcoming space for them to express their feelings,” Razvi said. “There aren’t many options to do something like that outside of online.”
Throughout the month,
Library staffer Lynde Saulpaugh introduced the Art of Tatreez — Palestinian embroidery — and created this poppy seed needlepoint. Poppy seed is the symbol of Palestinian resistance. Tatreez is protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Anne Arundel County Public Library locations will be hosting the dance troupe Malikat Al Dabke, which will perform the traditional Middle Eastern dance style Dabke, which is popular in Palestine, according to UNESCO.
Performances will be Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Brooklyn Park Library; Saturday at 2 p.m. at Discoveries: The Library at the Mall; April 20 at 11 a.m. at the Severna Park Library and April 20 at 2 p.m. at the Severn Library.