On August 23rd, as part of Mn Artists Presents, Walker Art Center’s platform for local artists, MCAD MFA Alum Essma Imady '16 curated an evening of collaborative performances and installations, featuring the work of fellow MCAD MFA alums Niky Motekallem '16 and Preston Drum '16. Through her curation, Imady asks who can art speak for? From Mn Artists, "Who can art speak for? To investigate the question of representation, artists in Minnesota are connecting with artists in countries that cannot receive visas under the current administration. They have been asked to create a piece based on their conversation and interaction with the artist, an art piece created “by proxy”. Can the work by the local artist speak for the artist abroad? Will it only speak for the artist who initiated the piece? Or will the meaning of the work be determined by the audience, thus making the audience the final artist by proxy?" Drum worked with artist Manar Zind to create the installation X-Y. The piece is framed by Manar's vision while imbued with Drum's style and artistic aesthetic. Motekallem collaborated with artist Aliaa Sukkar. In their piece The Last Time the King held his Son, His Only Son Cut Down But the Battle Won, We will Return, Motekallem uses her knowledge of Farsi to attempt to translate a poem written by Sukkar in Arabic. The resulting piece is a phonetic understanding of a poem further translated into a painting. "Essma Imady is an installation and film artist and curator currently based in the Twin Cities. She grew up in Damascus, Syria, and was dislocated to Minnesota in 2011 where she simultaneously had a daughter and received her MFA from MCAD. Her practice addresses the political aspects of the personal, the formation of identities, and the complicated relation between vision and knowledge." Photography by Rita Kovtun For more information: Mn Artists Walker Art Center Essma Imady Preston Drum Niky Motekallem Categories All Alumni