Episode 133

Enemy of the Sun: Disrupting Colonial Narratives with Artist Dana Barqawi

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Weaving Storytelling Into Art

Dana Barqawi is a multidisciplinary artist and urban planner based in Amman, Jordan. Dana’s multimedia work challenges colonial narratives and explores Indigenous identities and aspects of womanhood and community.

Growing up with women who painted, sewed, designed, and made art, Dana has a long-standing fascination with detail. She works from a workshop studio in Jabal al Weibdeh - one of my favorite neighborhoods in Amman – fusing elements of painting, photography, and applied materials like gold leaves and beads in her politically and socially engaged artwork. 

During my 10-day group trip to Jordan this May, we will be meeting artists like Dana in Amman. The trip is now open and you can get more details here.

Listen to the Episode

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Dana's path from architecture and urban planning to socially engaged art

  • The main element in Dana’s art

  • The stories behind Dana's latest exhibit, (Re)Narrate: A Visual Commentary on Colonial Narratives in the Levant & Africa

  • How the Black Panther movement in the US is connected to the Palestinian liberation struggle

“There's always power in people when they see the truth. When I see the truth and I decide to align myself with the truth regardless [of] the compromises, this is power.”

— Dana Barqawi

(Re) Narrate: A Visual Commentary on Colonial Narratives in the Levant & Africa

Dana’s latest project, called (Re) Narrate: A Visual Commentary on Colonial Narratives in the Levant & Africa, aims to expound upon the concept of the Indigenous body, womanhood, and community. The collection with works like Chapter 5: It Takes A Village (pictured) looks at the struggles of oppressed people in the Levant, Africa, and the United States. The works are, as Dana puts it, “an attempt to develop visual literacy.”

Learn more about (Re)Narrate here.

Featured on the Show

Dana Barqawi

“I don't do art for the sake of the artwork itself. Rather, it is a tool to communicate, to trigger conversations.”

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