4http://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/internal/media/dispatcher/59775/fullMy People2018Bahia ShehabAcrylic and Latex on WoodThis two-part mural represents a verse from a work by Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008). A poem originally written in Arabic, Shehab has interpreted the title and content of the text as a challenge to power—The Penultimate Address of the “Red Indian" in Front of the White Man (1992)—and selected this evocative phrase for her piece: “My people will return as air and light and water.” The mural uses an artist-created script that has both pixelated and added figurative roots to 10th-century floriated Kufic calligraphy to make a site-specific commentary about colonization, displacement, and loss – of land, people, and identity. My People speaks to how Shangri La is the intersection of cultural aesthetics and a place to explore political concerns across indigenous contexts. Shehab’s inventive and energetic interpretation of Arabic epigraphy richly illustrates the ways that art can be a space for marginalized voices. A graphic designer as well as an Islamic art historian, Shehab’s study of the development of Arabic scripts has deeply informed the creation of the lettering for this mural. Most commonly, floriated Kufic has leaf-life vegetation erupting from the “stems” of the letters. Here, Shehab has chosen to invert this tradition and create roots for the letters in lieu of leaves or flowers, quite literally embedding the letters - and their associated meanings - into the “soil” of Honolulu. Her pixellation of the letters has a lightening effect on the somber and moving message, respectfully but playfully encouraging the viewer to dwell longer on the artwork and to “assemble” the image visually - she invites us to look, and to keep looking. This bold artwork is site-specific not only for Honolulu, but also for Shangri La: it is a conscious welcome to our visitors, as well as a visual statement of the unique conflation of lands and identities represented within our museum and our landscapes. Paintingshttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/objects/9920/rdfhttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/internal/media/dispatcher/59775/fullExile2018Reem BassousAcrylic and latex on woodThis thoughtful, measured study of Shangri La presents the museum as a place of beauty and as a site of exile. Its bold, colorful composition featuring recognizable artworks from the collection – the gem-inset enameled gold peacock boat from the Mughal Suite being the most central-references the artistry that characterizes Shangri La. But note the jarring shapes of architectural rubble and striated fragments of disintegrating ornamentation, referencing the artist’s experience of loss during the civil war in her native Beirut and the construction at-and of-Shangri La. These elements are framed by oversized vegetation drawn from the pietra dura elements of the Mughal Suite exaggerated for artistic effect but intentionally obscures the presentation of Shangri La as being easily accessible or understood – both publicly and emotionally.Paintingshttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/objects/9919/rdfhttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/internal/media/dispatcher/59775/fullPhoenix (Again)2018Reem BassousAcrylic, graphite, and water-soluable carbon on woodThis work is an abstract study of fragmentation, wayfinding, and layering at Shangri La. The strong graphic underpinnings are suggestive of Kufic script, but are blueprints of the site, outlining the artist’s daily walk to and from Shangri La as she worked on the mural. A striated phoenix/simurgh emerging from the right-hand side of the composition symbolizes renewal, an activity currently underway at Shangri La. The work is overlain with a reflective blue paint – known, rather poetically, as “interference” – which interacts with the waterways in front of the panel, injecting an intriguing visual note, and subtly references Shangri La’s shimmering collections of lusterware ceramics on view in the Mihrab Hallway.Paintingshttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/objects/9918/rdfhttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/internal/media/dispatcher/59775/fullPolychrome Tile Mosaic Arch with Geometric, Floral, and Nasta'liq Inscriptions19th - 20th centuryStonepaste, glazeCeramicshttp://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/objects/6225/rdf