Q and A with Helen Zughaib (635 words, 3 min. read)
1. Do you find it difficult to maintain a connection to your home country while living and exhibiting abroad?
Yes and no. I think the global connectivity through social media and the internet help quite a bit. Though I think that there is no replacement for “being there.” And especially during times of unrest, war or the port explosion of 2020, for example. To be witnessing all this from far away is indeed difficult and I feel a need to shed light on these events, especially to a Western audience that may or may not be aware or connected to the Arab world. Though I will say, living in Washington, DC, there is a vibrant, energized, and committed Arab diaspora, that forms a vital foundation of support, respect and love, both for community here and abroad.
2. Can you share with us an interesting story that made you choose the career path that you chose?
I can. Talking about Lebanon, I was evacuated in late 1975 to Athens because of the civil war. Being under curfew for months, not leaving our flat even for school and being sixteen at the time, was something that never left me. Finally ending up in Paris to finish school, it was of course safe to walk outside. Though when I arrived there, I was too scared to leave our flat, thinking something might happen and I would never get back home. This was a paralyzing fear. As it turned out, the Jeu de Paume was not far from where we lived at the time. In school, I was studying the masters, including Monet, and several of his paintings of the Thames River in London were housed there. Of course I had to see them. Eventually, I walked there almost every day after school to study them and take refuge in that beautiful and intimate space. I think that experience was a powerful impetus towards my career pursuing art.
3. Do you find that the American audience is different than the Middle Eastern audience when it comes to art appreciation?
In a way I do, though I think both audiences appreciate strong, impactful work regardless of where they may live. Sometimes I think the reasons or message behind some of my work, might need more explanation to an American audience. Though I don’t mind, as I feel the more information one has the better to mutual understanding and conversation.
4. If you were to name an artist whom you admire the most who would it be?
Oh my goodness! This is a tough question! Well, I would have to say Frida Kahlo. With all the adversity she endured throughout her life, she continued painting. Her vulnerability as well as her strength resonate deeply with me. And I will mention too, the great Jacob Lawrence, the African American painter who died in 2000. He was famous for his migration series, the narrative paintings documenting the movement of African Americans from the rural south to the urban north, searching for a better life. This body of work heavily influenced my own migration series, documenting the Syrian war and the massive displacement that resulted.
5. Which form of art (other than painting) talks to you the most, inspires you, or strikes emotions within you?
I love embroidery, the motifs, the patterns and colors that tell stories, not just from the Arab world but elsewhere as well. Oftentimes they find their way into my paintings. The tradition of embroidery is passed down from generation to generation, mostly through the women, that keep their histories alive and preserved into the future. That beauty and resilience is something I try to reflect in my own paintings.
