Salwa Mikdadi

Infobox Person


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name = Salwa Mikdadi
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birth_date = 1956
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nationality = Palestinian-American
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education = American University of Beirut
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occupation = artist, art curator
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For more than two decades, Palestinian-American art curator Salwa Mikdadi has been an important figure in the world of Arab art.

Born in 1948 to Palestinian parents, Mikdadi split her time growing up between Kuwait and Jerusalem. She attended college at the American University of Beirut, where she came to know many Lebanese artists. In 1968 Mikdadi curated her first show featuring Palestinians artists in Beirut.

In 1972, Mikdadi left Beirut to study in the United States. The Israeli government did not permit her to return to Jerusalem so, upon completion of her studies, Mikdadi made her home in Berkeley, California, and began working with Arab artists in the U.S.

In 1988, Mikdadi founded one of the first initiatives to bring Arab art to American audiences. The Cultural and Visual Arts Resource/ICWA was a non-profit organization which organized symposiums, exhibitions, educational and visiting artists programs. Her research on Arab women artists resulted in [http://www.arabfilm.com/item_print.html?itemID=239 Forces of Change: Artists of the Arab World] , the largest touring exhibition of Arab art in the U.S.

She has also worked to raise the profile of Arab-American artists, curating and publishing [http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2005/in_visible In/Visible: Contemporary Art by Arab Americans] , the first exhibition and book on Arab-American artists. The 2005 exhibition coincided with the inauguration of the Arab American National Museum in Detroit.

Currently, Salwa Mikdadi is stationed in Jerusalem, working as a United Nations Development Programme consultant to the new art gallery Al-Hoash: The Palestinian Art Court. The gallery is also the first step towards establishing a future Palestinian museum for contemporary art.

References

* [http://imeu.net/news/article004066.shtml Profile of Salwa Mikdadi at the Institute for Middle East Understanding]
* [http://pipl.com/directory/people/Salwa/Mikdadi Salwa Mikdadi pipl profile]
* [http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:5PHC4ja-nZkJ:www.artschoolpalestine.com/index2.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26do_pdf%3D1%26id%3D1254+Salwa+Mikdadi&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us&client=firefox-a Badrans: A Century of Tradition and Innovation By Salwa Mikdad]