Out of the East into the West – a collaboration with artist Salma Ahmad Caller
The Mixed Museum is delighted to be working with artist, writer and art historian Salma Ahmad Caller on Out of the East into the West, a collaborative project exploring mixed Arab British histories in the twentieth century.
About Salma Ahmad Caller
Funded by the Arts Council, Out of the East Into the West is connected to The Imaginarium Postcard Project which Salma set up in 2018. Initially conceived to investigate the archive of colonial 19th century images of women on postcards from the Middle East and North Africa alongside Salma’s mixed Egyptian and British identity, the project has now grown into ‘a collective of artists and researchers working together to decolonise the colonial lens’.
About the exhibition
The Out of the East into the West digital micro-exhibition will contrast the exoticism and fantasy found in the colonial postcards, media accounts and literary representations with archival accounts of ‘ordinary’ mixed Arab British families held in The Mixed Museum’s collections, as well as Salma’s own English Egyptian story.
The exhibition will also feature artworks created by the Imaginarium Project which respond artistically to the stereotypes depicted in the colonial postcards.
Get involved!
In collaboration with the Arab British Centre, Salma and members of the Imaginarium project will be hosting an in-person ‘bring and tell’ evening at the Centre on 15 September 2022 encouraging people to share their MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) heritage and stories, including those from mixed Arab backgrounds. Some of your accounts may even end up in our digital exhibition!
Out of the East into the West will be launched at The Mixed Museum in September 2022. To learn more, see the exhibition project page:
https://amri.atelier.enfield.chancom.net/out-of-the-east-project