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Lebanese-American artist Helen Zughaib is exhibiting her engaged works at the Hillyer Gallery in Washington DC until June 30. Her work reflects the barriers faced by people fleeing their homes while celebrating their resilience.
The exhibition “Borders and Barriers, Pattern of Resilience” by Helen Zughaib is presented at the Hillyer Gallery in Washington DC until June 30. The exhibited works illustrate the many obstacles faced by those fleeing their homes due to war, violence, economic insecurity, or climate change. At the same time, these creations highlight the resilience of these people through patterns and colors that reflect their dignity and heritage as they strive to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Helen Zughaib has primarily lived in the Middle East and Europe before coming to the United States to study art at Syracuse University, where she earned her BFA from the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Today, she lives and works in Washington, DC as an artist, mainly painting with gouache and ink on panel and canvas, while recently exploring mixed media installations incorporating wood, shoes, and fabric.
Her works have been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, and Lebanon, and are part of numerous prestigious private and public collections, such as the White House, the World Bank, the Library of Congress, the US Consulate General in Vancouver, the US Embassy in Baghdad, the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the DC Art Bank Collection. Additionally, her creations have been included in the State Department’s Art in Embassy program exhibitions abroad, notably in Brunei, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Iraq, Belgium, Lebanon, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia.
Helen has also served as a cultural envoy in Palestine, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia, and was selected as a member of the inaugural 2021/24 Social Practice Residency at the John F. Kennedy Center/REACH. Her paintings have even been gifted to heads of state by President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying to the reach and impact of her work.
The artist explains: “As an Arab American, I hope through my work to encourage dialogue and foster understanding and acceptance between people of the Arab world and the West. Ultimately, my work is about creating empathy and creating a shared space for introspection and dialogue. I ask the viewer to see through the eyes of someone else, to walk in someone else’s shoes. To accept the other, reject division, promote acceptance and understanding, and refuse violence, give a voice to the voiceless, heal, and reflect on our shared humanity.”
For this particular exhibition, Helen Zughaib, forced by war to flee her own country, began documenting the uprisings and revolutions that started in 2010, shortly after her first return trip to the region, thirty-five years later. These revolutions, known as the “Arab Spring,” have degenerated into the current war in Syria and instability in surrounding countries. Over time, she has expanded her scope to include migration crises and conflicts worldwide, affecting millions of displaced people, from the southern US border to Ukraine, Sudan, Niger, Ethiopia, Palestine, and Haiti.
Through her emotionally rich work, reflected in mixed media and vivid colors, the artist seeks to promote empathy and reflection on our shared humanity. Her powerful and poignant exhibition is a call for acceptance, understanding, and rejection of violence, giving a voice to the voiceless and inviting the viewer to walk in someone else’s shoes.
An exhibition not to be missed until the end of the month at the Hillyer Gallery in Washington DC.
