| Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal, a Professor at the Art Institute of Chicago, is featured in the IAM Visiting Artist Lecture Series on Thursday, November 15, at 5:30 p.m. in room 405, 623 S. Wabash. |
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| Bilal has exhibited his art world wide, and traveled and lectured extensively to inform audiences of the situation of the Iraqi people, and the importance of peaceful conflict resolution. Bilal’s latest video installation Domestic Tension placed him on the receiving end of a paintball gun that was accessible online to a worldwide audience, 24 hours a day. The month-long piece spurred online debates and intense conversations, garnering the praise of the Chicago Tribune, which called it “one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time,” and Newsweek’s assessment “breathtaking.” But it is the resulting dialog that Bilal seeks, as an artist who feels he does not have the privilege to create work that is not political. In the face of a war that stretches on, the 2005 deaths of his brother and father, the violence in his own history, Bilal seeks to imbue his audiences with a sense of empowerment that comes from hope in the enduring potential of humanity.
Details on the Interactive Arts Department's events page. |