France’s former French citizens of Algeria, the Pieds-Noirs, include one of Europe’s largest diaspora communities in the twentieth century. This diverse group of people settled in Algeria during the colonial years, and after one-hundred and thirty years of French colonial rule, Algeria fought for and won its independence in 1962. The seven-year war was traumatic for both the Algerians and the French living in the colony, and nearly one million people crossed the Mediterranean during and after the war to make a new home in France.

Patrick Altes was born in 1957 in Algeria after the war had begun. Altes’ wounds are not physical, and because of his age at the time of independence, he does not have a sense of proprietorship of this country. Instead, his experience of Algeria has been largely through the scope of independence, and he feels no right to mourn his homeland.

The latest exhibition of works by Hossam Dirar, one of the Middle East's most promising artists today, pays homage to 19th-century Cairo through his re-interpretation of Orientalist paintings. “Le Caire 1801,” which opened at the Soma Art Gallery in Cairo on Feb. 4, features works in which Dirar has added his own touch of striking colors, among them shades of red and blue, to the older works depicting Western artists’ images of Egypt.

Artist Helen Zughaib is aware of how she gets labeled.

Despite living in the states for over three decades, she finds the phrase “Arab-American” still comes up in interviews, news releases and discussions.

“I was characterized, like it or not, as an Arab-American artist,” said Zughaib, who lives in Washington, D.C., but was born in Lebanon. “That’s who I am. I’m constantly blending East and West and trying to open this dialogue and make these small increments towards each other.”

Zughaib is one of 31 artists whose work will be displayed at the Center for the Arts as part of the “I Am” exhibit. The exhibit is the project of Caravan, a creation of Paul-Gordon Chandler, an American Episcopal priest.

There are so many misconceptions people who have never been there have about the Middle East and what it’s like to live there, said Emy diGrappa of the Wyoming Humanities Council. There are even more when it comes to what it’s like to be a woman in the area.

On Friday, people have a chance to gain a deeper insight into life in the Middle East from people who actually live there thanks to “I AM,” an exhibit featuring work from 31 contemporary Middle Eastern artists. The artists are all women and represent 12 different countries.

LONDON: In a world of instant global communication, rapid urbanization and identikit cities competing to build high and sweep away the traces of the past, how do you hold onto your cultural identity while embracing change? A recent ArtBAB (Art Bahrain Across Borders) exhibition at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London, featuring the works of 15 artists from Bahrain, gave some insights into dealing with this challenge.

To start with a blank canvas is to start with nothing – to step into the space of an empty void. Though bounded by the canvas edges in two dimensions – the picture plane – this space has the potential to open into infinite illusory dimensions through the agency of diagrammatic line. As lines meet, repeat, converge and diverge, hinging back and forth around a set of angles, the sublime mathematical beauty of Geometry opens into the magical space of the soul as it unfolds all the way to infinity, dancing an endless set of relations that always differ, performing a miraculous form of repetition that repeats only to produce difference and diversity, following in effect the principle of evolution of organic life.

LONDON: Middle Eastern influences were the binding element in the work of four artists displayed at the Janet Rady Fine Art exhibition held at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce in London last week.

This is the second part of the amazing Iranian artist, Hojat Amani's interview. To read the first part click HERE.

For many Americans, the Middle East is often more associated with conflict and complexity than culture and creativity. But two powerful exhibitions of Arab art at the American University Museum are designed to dispel misconceptions and build bridges.

“I AM: An East-West Arts Initiative Organized by CARAVAN” spotlights female artists from a dozen Middle Eastern countries as they confront issues of culture, religion and social dynamics in a rapidly changing world, both at home and abroad.

“I so much believe in the positive contributions that women are making in the Middle East,” says Janet Rady, curator of “I Am,” a recently opened exhibit at the American University Museum featuring works by 31 female artists with roots in 12 countries in the region.