Art for Humanity

Jewlery by Haiffaa Ali

Photographs by Ezabela Lundberg

Paintings by Ven Ashin Sandamanaw

Inspiration Bags, courtesy of Health for Cambodia directed by Dr. Victoria Seligman

Show Runs: May 9th - 31st

Opening Reception: May 9th from 6-9pm

Plant Yourself In Rino: Saturday May 17th from 11 am - 5 pm

The Story of Haiffaa Ali

Haiffaa and her family fled Iraq with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and each other. She was an only child in a well-off family and had never lacked anything. She knew that the life she had lived was now in the past and that she would be leaving her country to start with nothing.

It has been a little bit over a year since haiffaa has been in America

Haiifa has had the wonderful opportunity to learn to use her hands creatively, making jewelry through a refugee program for women called "A Little Something"

The first time Haiffa was given proceeds in the amount of eight dollars for some jewelry she had sold she found herself staring at the eight dollars in her hand and wondering what it was for. She said, “I can’t tell you how the feelings inside of me came up. I looked at this money and I didn’t see eight dollars; for me it is like eight million. For the first time in my life, these hands, my hands, made something for me. I did something not as a mother, not as a refugee, but just me, for me, my work.” “I have this pride, this feeling, and I can’t explain it. This eight dollars, it means everything right now. It tells me I can do something and make my own money. This is my first money I made. I can never spend this eight dollars. I have to keep it and show it—I must show it to the other women so they know how this feels and it is real.”

In her early fifties, Haiffaa finds herself in a new country with a new life and her first career.

To read more about Haiffaa Ali or the program A Little Something please visit http://refugeecrafts.blogspot.com/

Inspiration Bag Project

An outreach program led by the social work department at Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope creates life-changing opportunities for women affected by HIV. These women learn to make messenger and yoga bags made entirely from recycled materials.

For more information on Inspiration Bag Project or Health for Cambodia, please visit: www.healthforcambodia.org

NEWS

Congratulations to Oscar!

It is with great pleasure to announce that a photograph from the exhibition "Reading Landscapes" of Òscar AMORÓS has been selected from 385 works presented to join the "V BIENNAL OF ART OF GIRONA". An exhibition of the selected works will be held at THE HOUSE OF CULTURE OF GIRONA, hospital street, 6 GIRONA17001 (CATALONIA-ES) On May 16th at 20h where all the works are entered into a competition for a first prize award of 6000 €. 

The selected work "Late Afternoon" will be on exhibit at Stripes Gallery until April 26th, 2008