Here’s an opportunity to meet some of your newer neighbors, just in time to help celebrate Independence Day.
Documentary photographer Tariq Tarey’s “Forlorn in Ohio” — in the Short North’s Kiaca Gallery, 941 N. High St. — features 18 large-scale portraits of Somalis who have arrived in central Ohio.
“Forlorn means displaced. It means sad. It means pretty much not happy,” Tarey said.
Anarchy and factional fighting, with all the accompanying ills, have afflicted Somalia for 15 years. Many people have fled or been forced out. Tarey left his homeland in 1998 and settled in Columbus a year later. He works with Jewish Family Services on a program to help new arrivals get training and jobs.
Tarey’s pictures were shot in a straight-ahead style against a white background, similar to the approach Richard Avedon used for his 1980s project “In the American West.”
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Photographer ariq Tarey |
Tarey took the photographs, he said, because “I wanted to tell our story: the refugees and immigration into the United States. The Somalis weren’t the first, obviously.
“But people don’t know their neighbors — who they are, what they are doing. If I can bridge that gap as an artist, that will help everybody.”
Columbus has an estimated 45,000 Somalis. It’s unlikely that many will return home.
But Tarey is optimistic about his countrymen’s future in the United States. They are starting businesses in Columbus and nationwide, he said.
“Somalis are entrepreneurial. They are go-getters. You can expect a lot from them.”
The exhibit will run from Saturday through Aug. 25, with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday. A panel discussion will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. July 8. Gallery hours: 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays. Call 614-298-0028.
Tent gathering
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Hassan Mine, a Somali elder, by Tariq Tarey |
The “Here Comes Your Weekend/Parking Lot Blowout” is on tap for Saturday — Gallery Hop day and evening — in the Gallery Upstairs, the Surly Girl Saloon parlor and the saloon’s parking lot, 1126 N. High St.
Thom Lessner, a painter and screen printer in Philadelphia (and formerly of Columbus), is featured in the gallery with drawings and other pieces reflecting central Ohio band of the 1990s.
Here Comes Your Weekend is the title of a Gaunt song, he said.
Joshua Peach, Jay Brown and Matt Wyatt, among others, contribute to the exhibit.
As for Lessner’s pieces, “A lot are collaborations with other artists,” he said. “Some are drawings on photographs. Some are paintings on photographs.”
A tent in the parking lot will feature live bands. Karaoke will be offered in the parlor. And, of course, plenty of band memorabilia will be there.
The exhibition will continue through July in the gallery. The saloon is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Call 614-294-4900.
Eclectic operation
Milo eLEKtRic, an art-based coffeehouse, will display paintings by Columbus artist Joshua Seligman through July 28.
A reception for him will last from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. Food will be available after 9.
The venue is a new operation at Milo Arts, the collection of studio spaces at 617 E. 3 rd Ave.
Milo eLEKtRic’s odd capitalization picks up on the first letter in the first name of each of the four owners: Lisa Hill, Eric Smith, Kimberly Gattozzi and Rick Mann. “We’re trying to cater to all the different art forms: poetry, spoken-word, art, music, dance, comedy,” Hill said. The venue is open from 7 to 10 p.m. Mondays and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays. Bill Mayr is a Dispatch arts reporter. bmayr@dispatch.com
Source: Columbus Dispatch, June 29, 2006
