by Taimaa Salama
The Average, 2021. Acrylic paint, clay on wood.
Fisherman, 2020. Acrylic paint, clay on wood.
Sea Fisherman, 2021. Various raw materials and clay.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I was forced to flee the Israeli attacks on Gaza with my family, scrambling from one makeshift shelter to another as bombs rained down around us. The terror was unrelenting: shells struck our neighbors’ homes, loved ones were lost in front of our eyes, and basic necessities like water and electricity vanished. My infant son fell ill, yet there was no suitable medicine in the ravaged hospital, and my mother-in-law passed away after suffering a stroke, with no adequate care or medicine to help her recover. Amid this horror, I realized that my art had become another casualty, with the paintings I spent a decade creating destroyed. Ultimately, I made it to Egypt, but I arrived with only two of the four family members I left home with, carrying the weight of loss and the abrupt interruption of my creative life.
Being raised in Gaza, a place of profound resilience, I witnessed how important storytelling is to preserving identity and defying erasure. I will use the Artist Protection Fund fellowship to further develop my book arts technical skills and to process the meaning of displacement through connection with immigrant communities across Detroit.
As a visual artist and arts educator, my practice combines sculpture, photography, and traditional Palestinian craft to create narratives that honor my heritage while forging new paths of expression. I use book arts to engage communities through storytelling and collection. Responding to the high number of Palestinians with disabilities, I am particularly focused on creating inclusivity for people with disabilities, especially children. I’ve composed two relief books for children in the past, one with plaster and one with textiles, both of them bilingual using both braille and written text. This fellowship represents a unique chance to transform the utter heartbreak of having to flee my homeland, into an opportunity to build my artistic practice in collaboration with a global network of creatives.
Despite the difficulties that life under occupation in Gaza presents, I have been able to pursue my art career, through residencies, grants, teaching and lecturing opportunities, public practice projects, and multiple exhibitions. My work and writing have been featured in numerous media outlets.
The Artist Protection Fund fellowship, in partnership with Wayne State University and City of Asylum/Detroit, will provide the resources and platform needed to bring my vision to life and fuel the continuation of my art career. I understand that City of Asylum/Detroit is working on scheduling an exhibition where this work could be shown at the Arab American National Museum or Wayne State University. I’d be incredibly honored to participate in such an exhibition, and to have the opportunity to engage with meaning-making through that process. I’m also excited to connect with fellow artists in Detroit, and to learn from a new community. I see this fellowship as a natural way to further evolve my commitment to embrace diverse perspectives and foster meaningful cross-cultural dialogue.
Thank you for considering my application. I’m excited to contribute to a global conversation about resilience and belonging. The Artist Protection Fund fellowship would represent a pivotal step in my journey as an artist and advocate, and I would be extremely grateful for the chance to amplify my own voice as well as those more vulnerable than mine.