June 15, 2021 • 58 mins
Today we have the chance to speak with Sharon Mansur and to learn more about her recent work in 1001 Arab Futures, An intimate outdoor site-specific dance performance and visual installation that contemplates imaginative visions, past reckonings, embodied truths and other future potentials from the Arab diaspora. Sharon Mansur created this work in collaboration with Yara Boustany, Andrea Shaker, and Metta Loulou Von Kohl.
While this effort weaves through the materials, memories, and lived experiences of this Arab diaspora across generations and continents, it’s being presented in Sharon’s home community of Winona, a Mississippi River town located in southeastern Minnesota on the the traditional lands of the Oceti Šakowiŋ, Sauk, and Meskwaki peoples
Sharon Mansur is a dance and interdisciplinary experimental artist, educator, and curator. Her creative practices weave movement making, improvisation, visual environments, food, screendance, and audience participation to offer multi-sensory and immersive experiences rooted in the body, imagination, and environment.
In recent years, Sharon has received support for her work from the McKnight Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Springboard for the Arts – and she was a 2019 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow. Sharon is currently the Director of The Cedar Tree Project, presenting and amplifying regional, national, and international creative voices of the Southwest Asian and North African diaspora.
Just as Sharon’s creative practice arches across many disciplines, and welcomes many individuals and audiences as collaborators, so to does her own creative path in contemporary dance extend across urban and rural communities. Thus, while, Sharon has lived in Washington DC in the aftermath of 9/11, and created work that meditates on the erasures, violence, and misunderstandings directed toward Arab individuals, her recent work has brought those opportunities for experience and exchange to the rural upper Midwest – and has opened up a space for folks beyond the city to sit more deeply, more intimately, with racial and cultural difference.
In a moment when the COVID-19 pandemic has created headlines about urban outmigration to rural areas, Sharon’s work underscores the immense potentials for sustained intercultural exchange on the local level. Just as her work supports a meditative space to sit with expanded understandings of Arab identity and diaspora, it also presents an exciting opportunity to think again about what we mean when we say “rural” or “rural art,” and how the ever-shifting movements of people and culture can enrich our understanding of how we are in relationship with others.
We are grateful for the support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts in making this endeavor possible – and we welcome folks to check out and subscribe to these conversations on their favorite podcast platforms.
To learn more about Sharon Mansur's work pleases visit:
http://www.mansurdance.com/
To learn more about the artists, exhibitions, and publications involved with the High Visibility initiative, please visit:
https://inhighvisibility.org/
High Visibility is a longterm collaboration between Art of the Rural and Plains Art Museum:
http://artoftherural.org/
https://plainsart.org/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matthew Fluharty (00:05):
Hello, you're listening to High
Visibility.
This is a podcast produced byArt of the Rural and Plains Art
Musuem welcomes intoconversation artists, culture
bearers and leaders from acrossrural America in Indian Country.
It's offered in conjunction withHigh Visibility, a long term
(00:26):
collaborative initiative ofexhibitions, publications and
events. My name is MatthewFluharty, and I'm the organizing
period. In the months ahead,I'll be with you, along with
other posts from the Plains ArtMuseum and beyond. As we share
the richly divergent stories,lived experiences and visions of
folks across the continent.
(00:47):
We also welcome you to check outthe high visibility site at the
inhighvisibility.org, where weoffer show notes and transcripts
alongside an online presentationof the recent exhibition.
We're grateful for the supportof the Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts and theNational Endowment for the Arts
(01:07):
and making this endeavorpossible. And we welcome folks
to check out and subscribe tothese conversations on their
favorite podcast platforms.
Today we have the chance tospeak with Sharon Mansur. And to
learn more about her recent workwith 1001 Arab Futures. An
Intimate outdoor site specificdance performance and visual
installation contemplatesimaginative visions past
(01:30):
reckoning body truths, and otherfuture potentials from the Arab
diaspora. Sharon Mansur createdthis work in collaboration with
Yara Boustany, Andrea Shaker,and Mette LouLou Von Kohl.
While this effort weaves throughthe materials memories, lived
(01:51):
experiences of the Arab diasporaacross generations and
continents, is being presentedin Sharon's home community of
Winona, Mississippi River townlocated in southeastern
Minnesota, on the traditionallands of the Oceti akowi,
Sauk, and Meskwaki peoples.
Sharon Mansur is a dance andinterdisciplinary experimental
(02:13):
artist, educator and curator forcreative practices. We've moved
with making improvisation visualenvironments food, screen dance,
and audience participation tooffer multi sensory immersive
experiences rooted in the body,imagination and environment.
In recent years, Sharon hasreceived support for her work
(02:35):
from the McKnight Foundation,Minnesota State Arts board and
Springboard for the Arts. Andshe was a 2019 National Art
Strategies Creative CommunityFellow.
Sharon is currently the Directorof the cedar tree project,
presenting an amplifyingregional, national and
international creative voices inthe Southwest Asian African
(02:57):
diaspora. Just as Sharon'screative practice artists across
many disciplines and welcomesmany individuals and audiences
as collaborators. so too doesher own creative path and
contemporary dance extend acrossurban and rural communities.
Thus, while Sharon has lived inWashington, DC in the aftermath
of 911, and created work thatmeditates on the erasers,
(03:20):
violence and misunderstandingsdirected toward Arab
individuals, her recent work hasbrought those opportunities for
experience in exchange to therural Upper Midwest, and has
opened up a space for folksbeyond the city to sit more
deeply and more intimately withracial and cultural difference.
In a moment when the covid 19pandemic has created headlines
(03:42):
about urban out migration torural areas. Sharon's work
underscores the immensepotentials for sustained
intercultural exchange on thelocal level, just as her work
supports a meditative space tosit with expanded understandings
of Arab identity and diaspora.
It also presents an excitingopportunity to think, again,
about what we mean when we sayrural or rural art, and how the
(04:05):
ever shifting movements ofpeople and culture can enrich
our understanding of how we arein relationship with others. So
without further ado, please getcomfortable and enjoy our
conversation with Sharon Mansur.
Sharon, welcome to HighVisibilty.
Sharon Mansur (04:26):
Thank you, Matt.
It's great to be here.
Matthew Fluharty (04:29):
It's really great to have you with us today.
And just to have the space tosit and be in conversation about
your work and your creativejourney
through a lot of cities andregions and spaces and different
conversations over the years.
And on one hand to learn moreabout your futures, but also the
(04:51):
thread that ribbon backwardsthrough some of the inspirations
and even theThe intergenerational context
that your work is reallymeditating on. So, so certainly,
I'm just grateful for your time.
And I'm wondering, you know, aswe kind of dip our toes in this
conversation,just wondering, like, what
(05:13):
brings you to this work, andhow,
how you would welcome all of usas an audience into
understanding your own journey,as as a creative artist, as a
person who's a member of afamily, a member of
multigenerational knowledgesharing, and is a person who is
(05:37):
lived and worked and been amember of many communities over
the arc of your career.
Sharon Mansur (05:44):
Sure, it's interesting to
be working on this project,which is examining brainstorming
about the future for the Arabdiaspora and for all of us who
are involved in the projectindividually. And how much of
that involves looking back atour pasts, and taking stock of
(06:06):
where we are in the present. SoI really appreciate this
opportunity to do somereflecting with you in this
context. Because we've beendelving in for months, I've been
thinking a lot about mychildhood.
A lot of tender memories arecoming up, and some challenging
aspects, which are reallyembedded into my path today.
(06:27):
Growing up in New England, inthe 70s, and ATMs in a town
called Natick, it's likesouthwest of Boston, I was
immersed in a community that wasa lot of there are a lot of
people who weren't looking likeme. And then yet I was
surrounded by a really large,extended family of Lebanese
heritage on my father's side,and then a
(06:53):
big, sprawling Italian Americanfamily on my mother's side,
connecting into urban areas.
Boston is where my mother grewup. My Italian grandparents
settled when they came over. Andthen Lowell, Massachusetts, is
where my father's parentssettled, when they each came
over individually.
(07:18):
I feel like I've been alwaysthis in between preacher between
the rural and urban, betweenwhite and not quite white, in
betweenmy creative imagination, realm,
andthe daily, mundane. And the best
sense, the daily mundaneroutines that we all engage in.
(07:41):
And all of that is mixedtogether. I feel like my
work as an artists has just feltvery natural. It's been just
what I've been doing my wholelife.
to, to be to ask questions tofigure out, like, what the heck
are we doing here and why? Asfar back as I can remember, I've
(08:05):
been creating, makingexperimenting, my father was
trained as a visual artists, hedidn't pursue that as a
professional career, he becamean engineer. But his love of the
visual arts really infused ourhouse growing up. I remember he
used to, upon request, if wefound a Sunday cartoon that we
(08:25):
really liked my brother and I,he would draw big scale. You
pick up blocks of it, and thenhe'd blow it up and drag big
scale so we could color it in.
We were always drawing,painting,
sculpting, and then you know,messing around with all other
sorts of making Tinker toys,Lincoln Logs, erector sets all
(08:48):
of that at once. And then mymother, trained in piano, all
the way through high school, shewanted to be a piano Skoda,
Conservatory, and play piano,but with both of my parents with
their expectations and hopes oftheir parents, pursuing the arts
wasn't encouraged as aprofession. The arts are very
(09:10):
important to my family, veryenriching, very spiritual. And
so many of my family membersexpress themselves in this way.
But the act of being coming aprofessional artist following
that path was not within myparents generation was not
encouraged. It's not seen aspractical enough or feasible
enough. And so I feel like myhousehold was fortunate was
(09:33):
infused with art, and the waythat my parents loved it, and my
brother and I really benefitedfrom being surrounded by music,
visual art. Dance evolves, forme is my primary art form, but
my training and so many otherart practices,
just naturally bubbles to thesurface anytime I'm thinking
(09:54):
about a particular idea. So myNew England upbringing cozy
comfortable, definitely myparents, going from a working
class urban background into moreworking into a middle class
lifestyle, they both benefitedfrom being able to go to college
advancing further than theirparents were able to. And then
(10:17):
being able to give my brotherand I exposure to many
culturally enrichingopportunities, while also very
family centered, you know, everySunday, we would be at one
family member's house oranother. And I got that really
close knit sense of family andculture through those continual
(10:39):
interactions through foodsharing, music would be playing
stories about Lebanon came upoften, and photographs of family
members who I had never met.
Like a sponge, I feel like Isoaked all that in, and my own
slightly hyperactive physicalnature as I was steered towards
(11:02):
dance as an outlet. My motherreally appreciated how she
gave me that opportunity gave methat context, because I really
needed something physicallyintense, and yet expressive. And
then that just becamemy love. And
(11:24):
I never really have thoughtabout it necessarily as a career
so much as, you know, way ofbeing. And so I've really tried
to bring everything holisticallyto bear within how I ask
questions, and what I feel likeI can offer as a lens and
connect with people andcommunities, through my art.
Matthew Fluharty (11:48):
As one person who has been really lucky to be
in the presence of your creativework over the last couple of
years, it's really interestingto me how this narrative about
the arc of your own creativedevelopment
kind of runs on a parallel riverchannel, to these forums of
(12:12):
honoring cultural heritage andtransmitting those cultural
expressions. I'm just sointerested since
for so much of your work, thatthe act of creating and sharing
food and being in social spacestogether is such an engine, and
such a powerful way of being Ithink that's a really beautiful
(12:32):
word to describe a kind of ethicthat is communicate to the
audience themselves. And there'sa suggestion of a specific way
of being, for folks to be inthat space that you and your
collaborators create. I'm justcurious, even selfishly, for
those weekends, where you'regathered with food, and just
those elements of family life,what were those what were some
(12:54):
of the foods and some of theactivities that still have a
tether leading back to thosechildhood memories? Hmm.
Sharon Mansur (13:03):
So I grew up outside of Boston and Natick,
Massachusetts and my dad'ssister and Julie and his
brother, Uncle George took careof their father, my jiddu.
Thomas, for many years, and theywere in the family house on
Adams street in Lowell for manyyears next to the store, the
(13:26):
family grocery store that mygrandfather ran when he
immigrated with his mother, mygreat grandmother.
And I have a couple of vaguememories of visiting them in
Lowell, Massachusetts, with myparents and going to the store,
getting like these big pretzelrods or licorice there.
(13:49):
And knowing that the family wasvery centered around that store
for decades. I think that seepedinto so that maybe that
so that blurring but thatintegration of family life and
the store and the food that theywere offering the Middle Eastern
ingredients for Syrian andLebanese who were living in low
(14:12):
there was a big neighborhood ofMiddle Eastern immigrants who
came over to work in the textilemills
during that time, so that allfelt very natural and so I feel
like probably that was aoutgrowth didn't going to have
dinner at the house next door.
And the big meals my aunt Juliewould make this stuffed rolled
grape leaves or cabbage leaves,the kibby the tabouli just big
(14:36):
pots and bowls of it and theconversations. And I remember
reading these, I was learning toread I remember these big
Richard scarry books, picturebooks that I would be sitting in
the kitchen, and older cousinswould be trying to help me read
while the cooking was happening.
(14:58):
While my uncle's were talking.
And all of that I loved I lovedbeing in the middle of all of
that, and the differentgenerations. And in a way, I try
to recreate that.
In my collaborative settings, Ilove working with artists from
differentages and entry points. I love
working Yeah, with the audiencewhen I'm with them, I love
(15:22):
inviting them to participate andshare food at your space public
launch, that was such a joy tobe able to share my dreaming
under a cedar tree solo, whichinvolved the Middle Eastern
meal, at the end of theperformance with the
conversation. And that brings meso much joy, the sense of the
verbal and nonverbal exchange, Ifeel that the meal sharing Not
(15:45):
only is about the culturalcarrier that food can be,
but also the nonverbalactions and proximity is
important to me, I feel like I'mlooking for ways as a dance
artist, which is primarily anonverbal art form. And I do a
lot of mixed media work at thispoint, which includes text and
(16:08):
film and visual elements. ButI'm always curious about how,
what's the embodiedactivation of witnesses, others
involves, as audience watching,maybe some participation, but
just being nearby thatI feel a lot is absorbed and
(16:28):
understood beyond the verbal. Sopeople don't have to be, quote,
dancing, or what how we thinkabout what we're defining as
dance in maybe our Westernculture, or even just in the
United States.
(16:51):
For me, dance is change, dance,is action. And action is about
changing, right, a changingstate moment to moment. So that
out of having dinner together,is a dance, the art of being
just sitting nearby someone is adance.
(17:11):
In a sense, I feel I've beenasking that question of, are we
all engaging in a dancetogether? And if so, how can we
honor that. And maybe that'swhat organically evolved over
the years, the many layers andlevels of the dance and not just
about myself, or who we calldancers or dance artists as
(17:35):
being the only carriers of thatdance.
Matthew Fluharty (17:40):
Sharon, thank you so much for that window
into a weekend, as a childsurrounded by family, which
feelsso powerful and filled with so
many ripples that connect to thework years later, I'm grateful,
so grateful for those thoughts.
(18:00):
What you shared,it leads me back to something
that in an interview with TheWashington Post, you shared, and
this was an interview that wasassociated with some work that
you were sharing during yourtime in Washington, DC, and in
particular to pieces calledunidentified and off white,
(18:24):
you're talking about being inthese spaces in between states.
And that sense of play that'sthere when there's that feeling
of liminality, or meaning andmovement can kind of slip
between sort of signifyingdifferent things. And
what I what I love here is itleads this idea that
(18:46):
as you just shared, we'rethinking about this embodied
participation that is beyond theverbal. And so that we have
on one side of it, that work,which opens up this wide space,
and that it still is connectedto a form of seeking and
cultivating generationalknowledge, and honoring it.
(19:09):
And I just wanted to share thisfor folks who are listening, and
we'll have all of this linked inthe show notes. But what you
shared in this Washington Postpiece about unidentified the
pieces on identified and offwhite, you said there were a lot
of questions that I had about myfamily. But I just hadn't gotten
to the point where I wanted toask too much.
(19:33):
When I started interviewing myfamily about Lebanon, I became
intrigued with how peopleremembered the same life
experiences and how differentthe stories were. And I believe
just for context and this piece,you were speaking to the
journalist about sort ofbalancing those earlier life
experiences with just theprocess that any artist goes
through when they filter thatthrough their creative process
(19:54):
later in life. So it It struckme in terms of the very verbal
of gathering stories and howthat leads to work. in those
ways of being you speak of wherea lot of space has opened up for
interpretation and for existingin kind of an in spaces of
Unknowing where an audience ischallenged to think again about
words and associations andrelationships that maybe they
(20:16):
haven't thought deeply about. SoI'm wondering, given where your
work has moved from that point,I'm wondering if you could share
a little bit about that work inWashington, DC, off white, and
unidentified, and maybe how thatthat sort of presents a threat
for us to understand some ofyour more recent work.
Sharon Mansur (20:34):
As much as I enjoyed the closeness of my
family. In New England, therewas also a context of
like a lack of knowledge orrecognition of Arab Americans
during that time, thatwhen I went away to college, I
(20:55):
went to Connecticut College forundergraduate work. And from
there pursuing dance, I startedto go towards more urban areas.
So first Washington, DC andlater New York City, where I
felt more immersed in more, youknow, a wider range of
(21:16):
multiculturalism and more ArabAmericans.
And yet, I feltfor all the closest and
recognition within my family, myimmediate family unit, I felt
like I didn't have a lot ofunderstanding in terms of my
identity as an Arab American,and would come up. When I was in
(21:40):
New England, it came upprimarily with people making
comments or asking questions, asthough I would understand or
could I could speak for, youknow, everyone within my
cultural background. And also, Iwasn't from the Diaspora
directly from the Arab worlddirectly. So I wasn't,
(22:01):
didn't feel like I was wellversed. And I only knew what my
family decided they wanted totell me at certain times, or
maybe I would overhear, but Iwas never taught Arabic. And so
I never even spoke to mygrandfather directly,
ever, because he spoke inArabic. And when my father
(22:21):
understood Arabic, he didn'tspeak it in our house. So going
to Washington, DC was startedand awakening towards wanting to
understand more about whywhy I didn't know more, maybe
about my heritage, in thebroader context, not just being
a mentor. In my own family. Iunderstood that, but what was it
(22:44):
to be in a broader context andhow I could also maybe engage in
more conversations, or deepconversations with people who
would just out on the streetasked me who I was, or where I
was from, or from that benign,curious question to whether I
was a terrorist.
(23:05):
When you know, whether I wasMuslim or not, in 911, was a
real turning point in DC. Andthat was a galvanizing moment
when I really felt like I reallywanted to understand more about
my family and their opinions aswell, as far as being of Arab
heritage, and politically,socially. So that started the
(23:28):
family interview process after911 and grew into off weight,
which is a term I started tocall myself when I became
frustrated with input intodifferent boxes that I hadn't
chosen, whether it was like, Oh,you're white, he is legally,
(23:49):
Arab Americans are consideredwhite.
But yet I and other folks ofArab heritage often feel that
they're not seen as white incertain frameworks, certain
occasions. But yet there itwasn't clear or sort of clear
designation, so that in betweenthis became off white. I just
(24:10):
said, I'm going to put that onthe next census. That right in
other and that became the titleof the work that synthesize a
lot of my family interviews Iinterviewed not only my father
and my aunt Julie, but also alot of my cousins. So looking at
my generation, and the stories,what they grew up with, in their
(24:30):
New England communities. Mycousin David remembers he was
teased, he was called Ahab the ARabb next door neighbor of
another cousin was trying towork out where he was from.
only go as far as well. You'renot Japanese.
But otherwise, I don't know.
Anyway, it's just a lot. It wasa lot of a lot of connectivity.
(24:54):
I hadn't really talked to mycousin's to compare notes,
actually.
It was helpful to be in thatgenerational community with
them. And offwhite was a grouppiece that I created with three
amazing dance artists I've beenworking with for years, Ginger
(25:16):
wag, Marcy schlissel and KatieClark, in the Washington DC
dance community and none of themwere of Arab heritage, but they
brought a real sensitivity andgenerosity to their work. And
from there, that piece evolvedinto a gallery installation. So
I expanded on all the visualelements. And there was also
(25:38):
text read in English and Arabic,Persian photographer friend of
mine, le hurry sheet was able todo the Arabic translations.
And the visual elements,including milk was a strong
theme that really representedthe whiteness I was grappling
(25:58):
with.
And a lot of windowsto these questions of portals,
and viewings perspectives. Andthat was like from 2002 to 2006,
I worked on off weight andoverlapping that I had a chance
to receive.
(26:19):
Kennedy Center local dancecommission was very fortunate to
be selected to create evening ofdance in one of their spaces.
And the commission involved meinviting artists to work with me
who they wanted us to reallystretch ourselves challenge
ourselves, artistically. So Iinvited four collaborating
(26:40):
artists in the DC area who I'vebeen wanting to work with for
years. Oh my gosh, it was it wasa dream team of artists. And we
came together around this ideaof the complexity and ambiguity
of identity is ongoing foreveryone. So I really wanted to
expand the conversation, and atleast put my own questions in
(27:01):
context, right. That's thebroader questions of Who are we?
Where are we from the questionswe can get asked by others, the
ones were all grappling with.
Naoko ma Sheba is a JapaneseAmerican dance and theater
artists does l Mason, incredibleAfrican American Dance artists,
(27:21):
and Tyler, brilliant queerartists who had such a strong
visual sensibility and orsuillus, another African
American multimedia artists, andalong with videographer Todd
Clark, so I'd never worked withany of them artistically. And so
we just dove in and took on andcreated almost this montage or
(27:44):
mix of not only multipleidentities, but hybrid
identities, projectedidentities, desired identities.
So this solo, I was performing,like, technically, like you saw
me visually, but really, it waseverybody was infused within the
solo gel. And I did thisinteresting exercise where we
(28:09):
looked at all the commonalitieswe had and created this hybrid
persona, ultimately, where wecouldn't necessarily tell what
their cultural background wasgender Eve, any anything, we
just picked out markers that wefelt were significant that we
shared, but really took away anyof the typical markers. And that
you know, was atype of character that was in
that section. At Tyler had meshredding paper, almost as this
(28:34):
like identity eraser exercise,to like shredding, I was
shredding paper on stage inblue, a paper shredder, while it
was a giant wall of paper behindme. And then eventually, like
paper shreds came like rainingdown from the ceiling. On top of
me, it's just like, the sense ofwhich even more potent now,
(28:55):
right, the amount of identifyingmarkers we have out in the
world. And yet is what is thatreally identifying about us? Are
those really identifying markersthat we would choose? Or do they
seem really at the heart of whowe are?
Or could that change tomorrow.
So those two pieces overlapped.
And, well, identity work isn'tall that I make. I feel like
(29:19):
that's been a strong thread overthe last few years, including a
couple of other pieces. I feellike the sense of identity and
has abstracted in the best wayabstracted meaning getting to
some universal elements, towardsidentity of presence, towards
feminine identity, in that weall have some aspect of towards
(29:41):
identity of the in between spaceas the pivot point of the cusp
of change.
Sometimes those moments whenwe're aware, a change is
happening when we've let go ofsomething that we have outgrown
about ourselves, and yet we'renot ready to fully
Move into the new aspect. It'slike we've shed the skin and
(30:03):
then we're in that goo.
And we're just flopping around.
This is how I feel.
Maybe I'm the only one and thenwe're not quite ready, we
haven't quite formed reformed.
So in the space between that arecent work I did, I've done
since 2018, has been ameditation on that threshold
spot. Nancy Stark Smith, who wasa contact improvisation, Master,
(30:30):
teacher, luminous performer,who, who died last year, she
talked about that spaces, thegap, and how it's like one of
the most potent spaces to be inas an artist, and to honor and
be in that space, as long as youcan, actually, to honor that
(30:51):
moment for as long as it needsto be.
Once I feel my identity work,sometimes it feels like oh, I'm
looking to really clarify, orname or be acknowledged, and
that is one aspect. But anotheraspect I feel is wanting to hold
space for others to meditate, ifthey want about the beauty and
(31:16):
the complexity and the mysterythat we all have, within our
path of being human. Sure.
Matthew Fluharty (31:25):
And what's remarkable to me
in thinking about what you'vejust shared,
is it those pieces like offwhite, and identified that
they're that they're occurringconcurrently, and then after
this moment of crisis andreexamination after 911, in
(31:49):
particular, just even thinkingabout them being in DC just was
very, very powerful, verypotent. And this idea of the
gap, that on one side, we havethis urgent need, that
regenerates within all of us andwithin cultures, for us to
clarify our individual andcollective identities. And once
(32:10):
we have that, and on the other,we have this opportunity to
create a space for meditation.
And then as you just shared,there's this in between space,
where if we can be within thatspace, we could be on the cusp
of change, as you said, Ithought that would just is
powerful to think about thatwork in DC in that moment. And
that local moment, but also thatnational moment. And I can't
(32:32):
help but thinkabout some of the more recent
years, in particular, your moveto rural Minnesota.
And the emergence of the cedartree project work, which itself
is it's a move to a region in amoment after the 2016 election,
(32:57):
where a great deal of attitudes,and I think, a great deal of
perspectives about the kinds ofchange in the kinds of liminal
spaces we could even occupy. Ithink we're deep, deeply
troubled, things felt veryconcretized. Speaking from my
(33:18):
own experience in a rural areaafter the 2016 election, getting
into that space of meditation,where we can think about these
terms, I think isn't the spacethat is afforded to folks who
don't live in urban areas. Ithink that those are
associations that the sort ofthe urban creative and critical
(33:38):
community thinks is not possiblein rural areas. Certainly, if
one reads the New York Times onegets that impression. There's
that on one hand, and yet,there's tremendous work to be
done with folks in non urbancommunities. And I think about
just how you've written aboutyour creative process you've
(34:00):
written and I'll quote here, mycreative practices rooted in
tender in deeply cherishedrelationships with other artists
and creative folks. I offeraudiences immersive art
experiences that they're invitedto dive deep into, and make
themselves at home in.
(34:25):
And in thinking about that kindof creative call in particular
in the cultural moment, thatit takes really different forms
across I think non urban areas,but it is a kind of cultural
moment where that kind of work.
And that kind of perspective, inand of itself is an act of
enormous generosity, to createthe kind of space for us to be
(34:47):
together. So I thinkin some respects, this ramble
that I just offered ishopefully an articulation of
thanksfor having experienced this. You
Your tree project and a lot ofthe work that you have been able
to do in our region. But I'mjust curious what this period
(35:07):
has been like for you as anartist, especially given this
cultivation of that in betweenspace that can lead us to a cusp
of change how, what has it beenlike to navigate these various
cultural currents in the lastcouple of years, in particular,
in a rural region?
Sharon Mansur (35:27):
That's Yes.
It's been a lot to work with.
Yeah, I was, when I first cameto Winona, Minnesota in 2005,
right after I got my dance MFAat George Mason, and I really
wanted to bein a more rural area, I
(35:48):
love urban areas. And I reallygrew and learned so much really
appreciated in Boston, New York,in DC. And I also felt I needed
to switch it up and be in a justbeing in a new place a new
space. And I felt I could offerour community, my own
(36:11):
experiences, and maybe sometools or maybe some framings
some ways to be. And I also feltlike I wanted to be able to be
closer, more access to thenatural environment more
readily. So in a way, I washoping for that sort of
partnership. And we notice StateUniversity, the dance faculty
(36:32):
position, there really helpedbring me to this area, and I
just fell in love with thecommunity. And this places and
spaces here.
And I kept a lot of context, onthe east coast. So I've been
back and forth for years. When Idecided to be back here full
time in 2015. As you werementioning, the presidential
(36:56):
elections, the next year, reallyheightened my desire to bring
what I could my artistic lenstowards trying to keep that open
space towards more nuanced,complex conversations. I had a
sea Mac grant that I had beenworking on right before the
(37:17):
election results. And as soon asthey were announced, I drew out
that project I was thinkingabout, I can't remember what
project I was writing, aboutmaking. And I
dove into what I don't know ifit's a direct companion piece.
But certainly I had offwhite inmind when I proposed making
(37:40):
dreaming under cedar tree, and Ifelt the most genuine way I
could offer a space to try tokeep educating or keep open
dialogue was to dive into myfamily heritage again. And so I
wanted to be that vulnerable formyself, rather than retracting,
(38:03):
receding from the hostility andthe polarizing. I wanted to
find my own grounding and inthat perhaps offer a chance for
others to find their grounding.
And be willing to take somerisks or have a little more
(38:23):
courage. If there were otherswho were willing to, you know,
engage in dialogue, the windowwas through my Arab heritage,
but that was really just thestart of conversations about
difference or otherness orlanguage, human nature,
(38:45):
governments, politics, anynumber of us windows in
but just to be able to sittogether and look each other in
the eye.
One story was is was hopefullyabout many stories and many
people and I found that I feltthat was a worthwhile risk to
(39:06):
take. And so the my cedar treesolo, then expanded, I was
invited by Teresa remmick, themanaging director at the Paige
series at St. Mary's Universityhere and when she saw the Sita
tree beaming under see a treesolo that was at public launch
invited me to expand intocurating and create three events
(39:28):
for the next season and I was soexcited. One of my favorite
things to do is to support otherartists so I was so thrilled to
be able to invite Fadi bucaro,an incredible Lebanese
photographer and highlight hisLebanon, USA, cross country
expedition and photography andstorytelling project and bring
(39:50):
him to anona zaatar I wasthrilled to invite and highlight
Palestinian American artistsLila our dolla
Based in the cities,and internationally as she
wanders, and then lay him on atwo wheel, a Syrian Palestinian
American artist based inCalifornia, again, the sense of
talking about Palestine, here inour rural context, we're all
(40:16):
upper Midwest contexts to openup that space be a little more
direct, be a little moreparticular, be more specific,
right about what it means to betreated humanely in the world,
and what the US is, you know,what our involvement is. And,
(40:42):
again, to look at thecomplexities of the cultures
that were all immersed in,what were the kinds of
conversations that werecultivated in the community?
So I remember from the dreamingunder a cedar tree solo, we had
multiple nights of performing,so multiple meals, multiple
(41:03):
discussions, and I just lovedhow, when people were feeling
comfortable enough to ask me,you know, very simple questions
that were on their minds. Andyet, maybe they just hadn't felt
they knew where to ask, mean,asking whether my father was
Muslim or not. And had heconverted, because he's
(41:23):
Christian. I mean, in a way,it's, the assumption was that he
was Muslim.
But yet in the context of thatdiscussion, and meal, and after
seeing the work i'd shared, itwas just a great entry point
intolooking at assumptions we all
have about a certain area or acertain culture, and to build up
(41:47):
the connection, and I would,what I felt was some trust to
ask me directly about my father.
And for me to respond, and talkabout the multiplicity of
religions that exists inLebanon. I feel like this is
like the best way I've learnedwhen I've been in learning more
(42:08):
formal learning contexts. Andthen my joy as an educator, too,
is you're just setting up theconditions for us all, to have
just a chance to think through areflect a little bit more. And
so that brief exchange aboutasking if my pursuing my father
was Muslim, if he's not, then hemust have converted, but then
the person I was talking withjust watching them go through
(42:28):
their own thought process oflooking and saying, Oh, well, of
course, the complexity of anyregion, there's going to be a
complexity of religions.
I remember as the audience, Ihave those had those topics that
those off when I call with myoff whiteboard, in the middle of
the show, I would write a topiceach show, and the debate about
(42:50):
whether I was white or notwhite. I mean, that was a really
powerful moment that then ledinto the discussion during the
meal afterwards, of the originof the bipoc, acronym and person
of color. With that phrase, theorigin of that phrase, again,
the complexity around thoseterms, like how we're choosing
(43:13):
words, who's using them, howthey started to be used,
that that discussion reallystruck me as well. And then when
setar in terms of Palestine, youknow, the powerful work that
both Leah and Layla presented,Layla decided to use a lot of
samples from recent news, youknow, very direct, very specific
(43:37):
news clips, and interviewexcerpts to really bring that
into the forefront with watchingher moving body of Palestinian
heritage. And then layer two,we'll
who in that moment, and thattime with that work in progress
was essentially saying, Well, mywork moving through being
(44:03):
transmitted through my body fromthe Arab diaspora isn't itself
enough of a statement ordiscussion point.
So again, that's I think thatgoes back to that verbal and
nonverbal discussions. So withinthe discussions after the show,
and during an artist talk, thethree of us did, a lot of that
(44:23):
was centered around what ourinstruments are as dance
artists.
And I know a couple people wereasking us about, like how much
ourpolitical points of view really
play in versus our own personaljourneys. And in a way, that
sense of Here we are, like wecan't separate from our bodies.
(44:45):
So in a sense, it's always aboutit, and then maybe it's not.
Maybe it's also very universal.
Something that feels reallysignificant for me.
Matthew Fluharty (45:00):
In hearing these direct ways in which
yourself and your collaboratorsopen up the space for dialogue,
specifically, here in a ruralregion of the upper Midwest, I
think is that it creates thespace for audiences to sit with
(45:22):
various embodied forms ofcultural generational and racial
difference, as opposed to sortof what I think I think can
happen in a really broad macrocultural level, in the Midwest,
speaking out of my ownexperience, like oftentimes a
really quick reaction towards,we're just gonna find
(45:44):
commonality. And that'll be athing. And it is sort of a
euphemism towards,not existing in, in an
uncomfortable indeterminantspace, that that gap, you're
talking about, where the wherethe change can occur, and the
action can be taken. And just assomeone following your work, it
feels really powerful with thatas well, is there's the
(46:05):
cultivation of that kind ofspace, to sit together and to
meditate on difference and toask questions.
And that the cultivation of thatas a quality in your work
is emerging. As you share someof these creative projects with
a sense increasingly, that youare an artist, you are someone
(46:29):
who works really deeply incollaboratively with folks, very
interdisciplinary. But there'salso, I think, a really unique
form of curation that happens toand that maybe has developed in
developed really organicallyover the arc of this work that
would trace itself back to pre911 moment in DC. And I guess
(46:54):
that leads us to your mostcurrent work 1001 Arab futures.
And I'm wondering if you couldjust share a little bit about
that work and how it cametogether. And you know what,
you're excited for audiences onthe ground, but also online to
experience?
Sharon Mansur (47:13):
Yes, 1000 on air futures. That all started with a
McKnight foundation dancerfellowship in 2018. was so
fortunate to be selected and bepart of an amazing cohort. And
be really mentored by Mary Ellenchild, who was the dance
(47:35):
fellowship coordinator,who was recently retired and
it's now Dana castle, who wasMary Ellen's associate. And so
Mary Ellen and Dean, I've beenreally so instrumental and in
our futures coming to be becauseshortly after we found out part
of the fellowship included asolo commission where we can
(47:55):
invite an artists to create asolo for us. I wanted to invite
three artists to work with me,and they both they generously
agreed to try to make thatvision happen. And through the
CDBG project network throughLayla and Leah. I reached out to
them and asked who they mightrecommend. I really wanted it to
(48:19):
bean outgrowth of the web that I
was evolving, and so they led meto Yara Boustany, who's an
incredible Lebanese danceartists usually based in Beirut,
currently in Europe, LouLou VonKohl, who is Palestinian,
(48:41):
Lebanese Danish dance artistbased on the east coast in New
York City primarily. And thenAndrea Shaker, Minneapolis based
visual artist, andsimilar to unidentified I really
want to launch myself intoworking with new artists and new
processes really challengedmyself. And then similar to
(49:01):
zaatar, I was so thrilled tofinally be able to be in
proximity and in process withother artists of Arab heritage.
That's something I didn't havegrowing up or in college or
professionally at all. I hadnever had that until I brought
this guitar artist guitar triotogether. And so having all of
(49:22):
that together was really such adream for me to be working with
these three amazing artistsdirectors. Of course, COVID
tossed all of our plans andlives into new stratosphere
ears, and the process becamemostly online, as opposed to me
going to visit each one. And wehad to really
(49:47):
work how in terms of maintainingthat embodied connectivity, and
I thought we did a great jobbetween even our zoom
connections or emailing orwriting some snail mail.
sending some packages to eachother, I still feel like we kept
centering around the body andour senses what we were each
seeing and feeling and thinkingand responding to, you know,
(50:11):
COVID in that sense of thevulnerability of the body that
we all we were experiencingglobally became a strong thread.
And the upheaval of our livestalk about the gap space, we all
were in the gap spacecontinually to current events in
the our Arab worlds, theprotests in Lebanon, we follow
(50:33):
closely, starting in fall of2019, to the horrible exposure
at the port in Beirut in summer2020, which damaged Jaras studio
art studio, we helped her raisemoney to repair it, and to the
ongoing but then the currentintensity, increasing intensity
(50:54):
in Palestine, and putting ourthoughts towards Palestinians.
still needing and deserving thefreedom that we all you know,
every human should have that allwove into the work and the
generosity and insight they allprovided me in how to look back
(51:17):
at family, how to pick up ondetails that are personal and
universal how toask questions and be curious
about what we don't know, orwe're not sure about, but keep
following the thread, pull onthose threads to trust our
imaginations.
(51:39):
And our dreamscapes, I mean thatall they took lots of twists and
turns with me because we wentfrom having an indoor theater
performance, to pivoting to anoutdoor site specific
extravaganza.
That is a nonstop adventure,logistically. But they've all
(52:00):
been just so creative andwonderful senses of humor, we've
supported each other through jobchanges and meaning to move
house and car accidents. Andjust as friends as people who
care about each other. And whenthings have been very chaotic.
(52:21):
This has been a grounding pointfor us, just to come and
dialogue with each other. Sowhat we're sharing this weekend,
we really see is just your partof the continuum of this like
year and a half is really in2019 is when I invited them when
we started. What the audience'swill see either in person or
online is just meeting us alongthis continuum of dialogue, of
(52:44):
asking questions about thefuture futures, which again, I
think COVIDhas been just an amazingly
unique and surreal andheartbreaking context to be
talking about future. I broughtup that theme originally because
I was curious about ourfuturism, you know, movement to
(53:06):
really envision what could theair bachelor be, and really
trying to break out of othernarratives but a lot of colonial
frameworks, language, inpositions violence, and what
what could it be and then yetfuturism as a general concept,
worldwide, what is our future,when so much was totally in
(53:29):
upheaval, from our dailyroutines, everything right? How
we interacted with people. Andso much art was taken away.
to like, we were all making artin our living rooms.
And through a computer screen,so coming out to this weekend to
be able to share with theintimate audience 20 people each
(53:51):
night, outdoors, but in personto share some of our struggles
and hopes and dreams feelsreally potent and very moving to
all of us, actually. And then totranslate that online. We have
some ways of approaching thatthe watch party we're offering
we hope to engage in some ofthat conversation that I love so
(54:15):
much later to we'll bemoderating a discussion among
all of us. And yeah, just theidea of being open to future and
also honoring where we are inthis present moment.
Future being the very nextmoment, future, honoring where
we have been trying to locatewhere we are, which a lot of
(54:38):
times that was a struggle toeven understand where we were in
a certain moment.
And accepting all that was inthat moment, the loss,
the tragedy, but honing into anessence that can we take
ourselves into that very nextmoment and really that next
(54:59):
moment, is the nextsmell, when is the future like
that very next moment. And it'sreally, I feel like what we
bring to bear is what I learnedfrom these, this trio of
directors,the incredible presence and
curiosity that they each bring.
To support that next moment.
Matthew Fluharty (55:19):
Sharon I'm rateful for your time in this
onversation. And as we look,stepping out of this shared
space together, maybe withnotions of futures, on on a
space in front of us on thetable here, I want to offer a
couple things to our audience.
First and foremost, all of theamazing collaborators that
(55:40):
Sharon has shared with us, allof these projects can be visible
and linked to through our shownotes on your various podcasting
platforms that you prefer.
Also visible on inhighvsibility.org as well as S
aron's website, man, sewer dnce.com, this will all be in t
(56:03):
e show notes for you all, as wll as links at those various U
Ls. So folks can check out bth the the online performance a
d the conversation to follow. Sall this is available to f
lks, regardless of when you my have the chance to listen to t
is conversation, and sharing awe cut out on our separate w
ys here this afternoon. I'm jst wondering, a question we a
(56:25):
k folks. Is there a book a pece of music a place food, a t
adition, something that's ispiring you right now, as we l
ok ahead to the summer slstice and a couple of days, a
d it's hotter than normal in te upper Midwest? Is there a
ything that's inspiring you in tis moment?
Sharon Mansur (56:46):
Well, Matt, I've been listening a lot to that
anthology that you hadsuggested. For me to anthology
of electric acoustic Lebanesemusic. You remember recommending
that to me? I've been playingthat
over the past month and how I'mjust sort of been jamming on
(57:06):
that.
Yeah, if you want to cook somelike cooling Lebanese foods and
some salads,some refreshing flavors, I check
out Julie Taboulie's Lebanse kitchen cookbook. very engag
ng and accessible. A lot of simiar recipes to what I grew up wi
(57:26):
h. Oh, is there one in particuar that springs to mind? First
ut of that book? Oh, the to buly. Really? All right, typical
y. Are you going to make some
Matthew Fluharty (57:43):
sounds really good.
Sharon Mansur (57:47):
Let's make a date.
Matthew Fluharty (57:50):
Oh, man, that sounds great. Sharon, thank you
so much for your time today inthis conversation.
Sharon Mansur (57:56):
Thank you, Matt.
Always so good to talk with you.
Matthew Fluharty (58:02):
Thanks again to Sharon for her time and
generosity in this conversation.
Please check out the show notesin the high visibility site at
high visibility.org for furtherinformation on all the artists
work she shared with us today.
Thanks so much for spending sometime this conversation
Hello, you're listening to High
Visibility.
This is a podcast produced byArt of the Rural and Plains Art
Musuem welcomes intoconversation artists, culture
bearers and leaders from acrossrural America in Indian Country.
It's offered in conjunction withHigh Visibility, a long term
(00:26):
collaborative initiative ofexhibitions, publications and
events. My name is MatthewFluharty, and I'm the organizing
period. In the months ahead,I'll be with you, along with
other posts from the Plains ArtMuseum and beyond. As we share
the richly divergent stories,lived experiences and visions of
folks across the continent.
(00:47):
We also welcome you to check outthe high visibility site at the
inhighvisibility.org, where weoffer show notes and transcripts
alongside an online presentationof the recent exhibition.
We're grateful for the supportof the Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts and theNational Endowment for the Arts
(01:07):
and making this endeavorpossible. And we welcome folks
to check out and subscribe tothese conversations on their
favorite podcast platforms.
Today we have the chance tospeak with Sharon Mansur. And to
learn more about her recent workwith 1001 Arab Futures. An
Intimate outdoor site specificdance performance and visual
installation contemplatesimaginative visions past
(01:30):
reckoning body truths, and otherfuture potentials from the Arab
diaspora. Sharon Mansur createdthis work in collaboration with
Yara Boustany, Andrea Shaker,and Mette LouLou Von Kohl.
While this effort weaves throughthe materials memories, lived
(01:51):
experiences of the Arab diasporaacross generations and
continents, is being presentedin Sharon's home community of
Winona, Mississippi River townlocated in southeastern
Minnesota, on the traditionallands of the Oceti akowi,
Sauk, and Meskwaki peoples.
Sharon Mansur is a dance andinterdisciplinary experimental
(02:13):
artist, educator and curator forcreative practices. We've moved
with making improvisation visualenvironments food, screen dance,
and audience participation tooffer multi sensory immersive
experiences rooted in the body,imagination and environment.
In recent years, Sharon hasreceived support for her work
(02:35):
from the McKnight Foundation,Minnesota State Arts board and
Springboard for the Arts. Andshe was a 2019 National Art
Strategies Creative CommunityFellow.
Sharon is currently the Directorof the cedar tree project,
presenting an amplifyingregional, national and
international creative voices inthe Southwest Asian African
(02:57):
diaspora. Just as Sharon'screative practice artists across
many disciplines and welcomesmany individuals and audiences
as collaborators. so too doesher own creative path and
contemporary dance extend acrossurban and rural communities.
Thus, while Sharon has lived inWashington, DC in the aftermath
of 911, and created work thatmeditates on the erasers,
(03:20):
violence and misunderstandingsdirected toward Arab
individuals, her recent work hasbrought those opportunities for
experience in exchange to therural Upper Midwest, and has
opened up a space for folksbeyond the city to sit more
deeply and more intimately withracial and cultural difference.
In a moment when the covid 19pandemic has created headlines
(03:42):
about urban out migration torural areas. Sharon's work
underscores the immensepotentials for sustained
intercultural exchange on thelocal level, just as her work
supports a meditative space tosit with expanded understandings
of Arab identity and diaspora.
It also presents an excitingopportunity to think, again,
about what we mean when we sayrural or rural art, and how the
(04:05):
ever shifting movements ofpeople and culture can enrich
our understanding of how we arein relationship with others. So
without further ado, please getcomfortable and enjoy our
conversation with Sharon Mansur.
Sharon, welcome to HighVisibilty.
Sharon Mansur (04:26):
Thank you, Matt.
It's great to be here.
Matthew Fluharty (04:29):
It's really great to have you with us today.
And just to have the space tosit and be in conversation about
your work and your creativejourney
through a lot of cities andregions and spaces and different
conversations over the years.
And on one hand to learn moreabout your futures, but also the
(04:51):
thread that ribbon backwardsthrough some of the inspirations
and even theThe intergenerational context
that your work is reallymeditating on. So, so certainly,
I'm just grateful for your time.
And I'm wondering, you know, aswe kind of dip our toes in this
conversation,just wondering, like, what
(05:13):
brings you to this work, andhow,
how you would welcome all of usas an audience into
understanding your own journey,as as a creative artist, as a
person who's a member of afamily, a member of
multigenerational knowledgesharing, and is a person who is
(05:37):
lived and worked and been amember of many communities over
the arc of your career.
Sharon Mansur (05:44):
Sure, it's interesting to
be working on this project,which is examining brainstorming
about the future for the Arabdiaspora and for all of us who
are involved in the projectindividually. And how much of
that involves looking back atour pasts, and taking stock of
(06:06):
where we are in the present. SoI really appreciate this
opportunity to do somereflecting with you in this
context. Because we've beendelving in for months, I've been
thinking a lot about mychildhood.
A lot of tender memories arecoming up, and some challenging
aspects, which are reallyembedded into my path today.
(06:27):
Growing up in New England, inthe 70s, and ATMs in a town
called Natick, it's likesouthwest of Boston, I was
immersed in a community that wasa lot of there are a lot of
people who weren't looking likeme. And then yet I was
surrounded by a really large,extended family of Lebanese
heritage on my father's side,and then a
(06:53):
big, sprawling Italian Americanfamily on my mother's side,
connecting into urban areas.
Boston is where my mother grewup. My Italian grandparents
settled when they came over. Andthen Lowell, Massachusetts, is
where my father's parentssettled, when they each came
over individually.
(07:18):
I feel like I've been alwaysthis in between preacher between
the rural and urban, betweenwhite and not quite white, in
betweenmy creative imagination, realm,
andthe daily, mundane. And the best
sense, the daily mundaneroutines that we all engage in.
(07:41):
And all of that is mixedtogether. I feel like my
work as an artists has just feltvery natural. It's been just
what I've been doing my wholelife.
to, to be to ask questions tofigure out, like, what the heck
are we doing here and why? Asfar back as I can remember, I've
(08:05):
been creating, makingexperimenting, my father was
trained as a visual artists, hedidn't pursue that as a
professional career, he becamean engineer. But his love of the
visual arts really infused ourhouse growing up. I remember he
used to, upon request, if wefound a Sunday cartoon that we
(08:25):
really liked my brother and I,he would draw big scale. You
pick up blocks of it, and thenhe'd blow it up and drag big
scale so we could color it in.
We were always drawing,painting,
sculpting, and then you know,messing around with all other
sorts of making Tinker toys,Lincoln Logs, erector sets all
(08:48):
of that at once. And then mymother, trained in piano, all
the way through high school, shewanted to be a piano Skoda,
Conservatory, and play piano,but with both of my parents with
their expectations and hopes oftheir parents, pursuing the arts
wasn't encouraged as aprofession. The arts are very
(09:10):
important to my family, veryenriching, very spiritual. And
so many of my family membersexpress themselves in this way.
But the act of being coming aprofessional artist following
that path was not within myparents generation was not
encouraged. It's not seen aspractical enough or feasible
enough. And so I feel like myhousehold was fortunate was
(09:33):
infused with art, and the waythat my parents loved it, and my
brother and I really benefitedfrom being surrounded by music,
visual art. Dance evolves, forme is my primary art form, but
my training and so many otherart practices,
just naturally bubbles to thesurface anytime I'm thinking
(09:54):
about a particular idea. So myNew England upbringing cozy
comfortable, definitely myparents, going from a working
class urban background into moreworking into a middle class
lifestyle, they both benefitedfrom being able to go to college
advancing further than theirparents were able to. And then
(10:17):
being able to give my brotherand I exposure to many
culturally enrichingopportunities, while also very
family centered, you know, everySunday, we would be at one
family member's house oranother. And I got that really
close knit sense of family andculture through those continual
(10:39):
interactions through foodsharing, music would be playing
stories about Lebanon came upoften, and photographs of family
members who I had never met.
Like a sponge, I feel like Isoaked all that in, and my own
slightly hyperactive physicalnature as I was steered towards
(11:02):
dance as an outlet. My motherreally appreciated how she
gave me that opportunity gave methat context, because I really
needed something physicallyintense, and yet expressive. And
then that just becamemy love. And
(11:24):
I never really have thoughtabout it necessarily as a career
so much as, you know, way ofbeing. And so I've really tried
to bring everything holisticallyto bear within how I ask
questions, and what I feel likeI can offer as a lens and
connect with people andcommunities, through my art.
Matthew Fluharty (11:48):
As one person who has been really lucky to be
in the presence of your creativework over the last couple of
years, it's really interestingto me how this narrative about
the arc of your own creativedevelopment
kind of runs on a parallel riverchannel, to these forums of
(12:12):
honoring cultural heritage andtransmitting those cultural
expressions. I'm just sointerested since
for so much of your work, thatthe act of creating and sharing
food and being in social spacestogether is such an engine, and
such a powerful way of being Ithink that's a really beautiful
(12:32):
word to describe a kind of ethicthat is communicate to the
audience themselves. And there'sa suggestion of a specific way
of being, for folks to be inthat space that you and your
collaborators create. I'm justcurious, even selfishly, for
those weekends, where you'regathered with food, and just
those elements of family life,what were those what were some
(12:54):
of the foods and some of theactivities that still have a
tether leading back to thosechildhood memories? Hmm.
Sharon Mansur (13:03):
So I grew up outside of Boston and Natick,
Massachusetts and my dad'ssister and Julie and his
brother, Uncle George took careof their father, my jiddu.
Thomas, for many years, and theywere in the family house on
Adams street in Lowell for manyyears next to the store, the
(13:26):
family grocery store that mygrandfather ran when he
immigrated with his mother, mygreat grandmother.
And I have a couple of vaguememories of visiting them in
Lowell, Massachusetts, with myparents and going to the store,
getting like these big pretzelrods or licorice there.
(13:49):
And knowing that the family wasvery centered around that store
for decades. I think that seepedinto so that maybe that
so that blurring but thatintegration of family life and
the store and the food that theywere offering the Middle Eastern
ingredients for Syrian andLebanese who were living in low
(14:12):
there was a big neighborhood ofMiddle Eastern immigrants who
came over to work in the textilemills
during that time, so that allfelt very natural and so I feel
like probably that was aoutgrowth didn't going to have
dinner at the house next door.
And the big meals my aunt Juliewould make this stuffed rolled
grape leaves or cabbage leaves,the kibby the tabouli just big
(14:36):
pots and bowls of it and theconversations. And I remember
reading these, I was learning toread I remember these big
Richard scarry books, picturebooks that I would be sitting in
the kitchen, and older cousinswould be trying to help me read
while the cooking was happening.
(14:58):
While my uncle's were talking.
And all of that I loved I lovedbeing in the middle of all of
that, and the differentgenerations. And in a way, I try
to recreate that.
In my collaborative settings, Ilove working with artists from
differentages and entry points. I love
working Yeah, with the audiencewhen I'm with them, I love
(15:22):
inviting them to participate andshare food at your space public
launch, that was such a joy tobe able to share my dreaming
under a cedar tree solo, whichinvolved the Middle Eastern
meal, at the end of theperformance with the
conversation. And that brings meso much joy, the sense of the
verbal and nonverbal exchange, Ifeel that the meal sharing Not
(15:45):
only is about the culturalcarrier that food can be,
but also the nonverbalactions and proximity is
important to me, I feel like I'mlooking for ways as a dance
artist, which is primarily anonverbal art form. And I do a
lot of mixed media work at thispoint, which includes text and
(16:08):
film and visual elements. ButI'm always curious about how,
what's the embodiedactivation of witnesses, others
involves, as audience watching,maybe some participation, but
just being nearby thatI feel a lot is absorbed and
(16:28):
understood beyond the verbal. Sopeople don't have to be, quote,
dancing, or what how we thinkabout what we're defining as
dance in maybe our Westernculture, or even just in the
United States.
(16:51):
For me, dance is change, dance,is action. And action is about
changing, right, a changingstate moment to moment. So that
out of having dinner together,is a dance, the art of being
just sitting nearby someone is adance.
(17:11):
In a sense, I feel I've beenasking that question of, are we
all engaging in a dancetogether? And if so, how can we
honor that. And maybe that'swhat organically evolved over
the years, the many layers andlevels of the dance and not just
about myself, or who we calldancers or dance artists as
(17:35):
being the only carriers of thatdance.
Matthew Fluharty (17:40):
Sharon, thank you so much for that window
into a weekend, as a childsurrounded by family, which
feelsso powerful and filled with so
many ripples that connect to thework years later, I'm grateful,
so grateful for those thoughts.
(18:00):
What you shared,it leads me back to something
that in an interview with TheWashington Post, you shared, and
this was an interview that wasassociated with some work that
you were sharing during yourtime in Washington, DC, and in
particular to pieces calledunidentified and off white,
(18:24):
you're talking about being inthese spaces in between states.
And that sense of play that'sthere when there's that feeling
of liminality, or meaning andmovement can kind of slip
between sort of signifyingdifferent things. And
what I what I love here is itleads this idea that
(18:46):
as you just shared, we'rethinking about this embodied
participation that is beyond theverbal. And so that we have
on one side of it, that work,which opens up this wide space,
and that it still is connectedto a form of seeking and
cultivating generationalknowledge, and honoring it.
(19:09):
And I just wanted to share thisfor folks who are listening, and
we'll have all of this linked inthe show notes. But what you
shared in this Washington Postpiece about unidentified the
pieces on identified and offwhite, you said there were a lot
of questions that I had about myfamily. But I just hadn't gotten
to the point where I wanted toask too much.
(19:33):
When I started interviewing myfamily about Lebanon, I became
intrigued with how peopleremembered the same life
experiences and how differentthe stories were. And I believe
just for context and this piece,you were speaking to the
journalist about sort ofbalancing those earlier life
experiences with just theprocess that any artist goes
through when they filter thatthrough their creative process
(19:54):
later in life. So it It struckme in terms of the very verbal
of gathering stories and howthat leads to work. in those
ways of being you speak of wherea lot of space has opened up for
interpretation and for existingin kind of an in spaces of
Unknowing where an audience ischallenged to think again about
words and associations andrelationships that maybe they
(20:16):
haven't thought deeply about. SoI'm wondering, given where your
work has moved from that point,I'm wondering if you could share
a little bit about that work inWashington, DC, off white, and
unidentified, and maybe how thatthat sort of presents a threat
for us to understand some ofyour more recent work.
Sharon Mansur (20:34):
As much as I enjoyed the closeness of my
family. In New England, therewas also a context of
like a lack of knowledge orrecognition of Arab Americans
during that time, thatwhen I went away to college, I
(20:55):
went to Connecticut College forundergraduate work. And from
there pursuing dance, I startedto go towards more urban areas.
So first Washington, DC andlater New York City, where I
felt more immersed in more, youknow, a wider range of
(21:16):
multiculturalism and more ArabAmericans.
And yet, I feltfor all the closest and
recognition within my family, myimmediate family unit, I felt
like I didn't have a lot ofunderstanding in terms of my
identity as an Arab American,and would come up. When I was in
(21:40):
New England, it came upprimarily with people making
comments or asking questions, asthough I would understand or
could I could speak for, youknow, everyone within my
cultural background. And also, Iwasn't from the Diaspora
directly from the Arab worlddirectly. So I wasn't,
(22:01):
didn't feel like I was wellversed. And I only knew what my
family decided they wanted totell me at certain times, or
maybe I would overhear, but Iwas never taught Arabic. And so
I never even spoke to mygrandfather directly,
ever, because he spoke inArabic. And when my father
(22:21):
understood Arabic, he didn'tspeak it in our house. So going
to Washington, DC was startedand awakening towards wanting to
understand more about whywhy I didn't know more, maybe
about my heritage, in thebroader context, not just being
a mentor. In my own family. Iunderstood that, but what was it
(22:44):
to be in a broader context andhow I could also maybe engage in
more conversations, or deepconversations with people who
would just out on the streetasked me who I was, or where I
was from, or from that benign,curious question to whether I
was a terrorist.
(23:05):
When you know, whether I wasMuslim or not, in 911, was a
real turning point in DC. Andthat was a galvanizing moment
when I really felt like I reallywanted to understand more about
my family and their opinions aswell, as far as being of Arab
heritage, and politically,socially. So that started the
(23:28):
family interview process after911 and grew into off weight,
which is a term I started tocall myself when I became
frustrated with input intodifferent boxes that I hadn't
chosen, whether it was like, Oh,you're white, he is legally,
(23:49):
Arab Americans are consideredwhite.
But yet I and other folks ofArab heritage often feel that
they're not seen as white incertain frameworks, certain
occasions. But yet there itwasn't clear or sort of clear
designation, so that in betweenthis became off white. I just
(24:10):
said, I'm going to put that onthe next census. That right in
other and that became the titleof the work that synthesize a
lot of my family interviews Iinterviewed not only my father
and my aunt Julie, but also alot of my cousins. So looking at
my generation, and the stories,what they grew up with, in their
(24:30):
New England communities. Mycousin David remembers he was
teased, he was called Ahab the ARabb next door neighbor of
another cousin was trying towork out where he was from.
only go as far as well. You'renot Japanese.
But otherwise, I don't know.
Anyway, it's just a lot. It wasa lot of a lot of connectivity.
(24:54):
I hadn't really talked to mycousin's to compare notes,
actually.
It was helpful to be in thatgenerational community with
them. And offwhite was a grouppiece that I created with three
amazing dance artists I've beenworking with for years, Ginger
(25:16):
wag, Marcy schlissel and KatieClark, in the Washington DC
dance community and none of themwere of Arab heritage, but they
brought a real sensitivity andgenerosity to their work. And
from there, that piece evolvedinto a gallery installation. So
I expanded on all the visualelements. And there was also
(25:38):
text read in English and Arabic,Persian photographer friend of
mine, le hurry sheet was able todo the Arabic translations.
And the visual elements,including milk was a strong
theme that really representedthe whiteness I was grappling
(25:58):
with.
And a lot of windowsto these questions of portals,
and viewings perspectives. Andthat was like from 2002 to 2006,
I worked on off weight andoverlapping that I had a chance
to receive.
(26:19):
Kennedy Center local dancecommission was very fortunate to
be selected to create evening ofdance in one of their spaces.
And the commission involved meinviting artists to work with me
who they wanted us to reallystretch ourselves challenge
ourselves, artistically. So Iinvited four collaborating
(26:40):
artists in the DC area who I'vebeen wanting to work with for
years. Oh my gosh, it was it wasa dream team of artists. And we
came together around this ideaof the complexity and ambiguity
of identity is ongoing foreveryone. So I really wanted to
expand the conversation, and atleast put my own questions in
(27:01):
context, right. That's thebroader questions of Who are we?
Where are we from the questionswe can get asked by others, the
ones were all grappling with.
Naoko ma Sheba is a JapaneseAmerican dance and theater
artists does l Mason, incredibleAfrican American Dance artists,
(27:21):
and Tyler, brilliant queerartists who had such a strong
visual sensibility and orsuillus, another African
American multimedia artists, andalong with videographer Todd
Clark, so I'd never worked withany of them artistically. And so
we just dove in and took on andcreated almost this montage or
(27:44):
mix of not only multipleidentities, but hybrid
identities, projectedidentities, desired identities.
So this solo, I was performing,like, technically, like you saw
me visually, but really, it waseverybody was infused within the
solo gel. And I did thisinteresting exercise where we
(28:09):
looked at all the commonalitieswe had and created this hybrid
persona, ultimately, where wecouldn't necessarily tell what
their cultural background wasgender Eve, any anything, we
just picked out markers that wefelt were significant that we
shared, but really took away anyof the typical markers. And that
you know, was atype of character that was in
that section. At Tyler had meshredding paper, almost as this
(28:34):
like identity eraser exercise,to like shredding, I was
shredding paper on stage inblue, a paper shredder, while it
was a giant wall of paper behindme. And then eventually, like
paper shreds came like rainingdown from the ceiling. On top of
me, it's just like, the sense ofwhich even more potent now,
(28:55):
right, the amount of identifyingmarkers we have out in the
world. And yet is what is thatreally identifying about us? Are
those really identifying markersthat we would choose? Or do they
seem really at the heart of whowe are?
Or could that change tomorrow.
So those two pieces overlapped.
And, well, identity work isn'tall that I make. I feel like
(29:19):
that's been a strong thread overthe last few years, including a
couple of other pieces. I feellike the sense of identity and
has abstracted in the best wayabstracted meaning getting to
some universal elements, towardsidentity of presence, towards
feminine identity, in that weall have some aspect of towards
(29:41):
identity of the in between spaceas the pivot point of the cusp
of change.
Sometimes those moments whenwe're aware, a change is
happening when we've let go ofsomething that we have outgrown
about ourselves, and yet we'renot ready to fully
Move into the new aspect. It'slike we've shed the skin and
(30:03):
then we're in that goo.
And we're just flopping around.
This is how I feel.
Maybe I'm the only one and thenwe're not quite ready, we
haven't quite formed reformed.
So in the space between that arecent work I did, I've done
since 2018, has been ameditation on that threshold
spot. Nancy Stark Smith, who wasa contact improvisation, Master,
(30:30):
teacher, luminous performer,who, who died last year, she
talked about that spaces, thegap, and how it's like one of
the most potent spaces to be inas an artist, and to honor and
be in that space, as long as youcan, actually, to honor that
(30:51):
moment for as long as it needsto be.
Once I feel my identity work,sometimes it feels like oh, I'm
looking to really clarify, orname or be acknowledged, and
that is one aspect. But anotheraspect I feel is wanting to hold
space for others to meditate, ifthey want about the beauty and
(31:16):
the complexity and the mysterythat we all have, within our
path of being human. Sure.
Matthew Fluharty (31:25):
And what's remarkable to me
in thinking about what you'vejust shared,
is it those pieces like offwhite, and identified that
they're that they're occurringconcurrently, and then after
this moment of crisis andreexamination after 911, in
(31:49):
particular, just even thinkingabout them being in DC just was
very, very powerful, verypotent. And this idea of the
gap, that on one side, we havethis urgent need, that
regenerates within all of us andwithin cultures, for us to
clarify our individual andcollective identities. And once
(32:10):
we have that, and on the other,we have this opportunity to
create a space for meditation.
And then as you just shared,there's this in between space,
where if we can be within thatspace, we could be on the cusp
of change, as you said, Ithought that would just is
powerful to think about thatwork in DC in that moment. And
that local moment, but also thatnational moment. And I can't
(32:32):
help but thinkabout some of the more recent
years, in particular, your moveto rural Minnesota.
And the emergence of the cedartree project work, which itself
is it's a move to a region in amoment after the 2016 election,
(32:57):
where a great deal of attitudes,and I think, a great deal of
perspectives about the kinds ofchange in the kinds of liminal
spaces we could even occupy. Ithink we're deep, deeply
troubled, things felt veryconcretized. Speaking from my
(33:18):
own experience in a rural areaafter the 2016 election, getting
into that space of meditation,where we can think about these
terms, I think isn't the spacethat is afforded to folks who
don't live in urban areas. Ithink that those are
associations that the sort ofthe urban creative and critical
(33:38):
community thinks is not possiblein rural areas. Certainly, if
one reads the New York Times onegets that impression. There's
that on one hand, and yet,there's tremendous work to be
done with folks in non urbancommunities. And I think about
just how you've written aboutyour creative process you've
(34:00):
written and I'll quote here, mycreative practices rooted in
tender in deeply cherishedrelationships with other artists
and creative folks. I offeraudiences immersive art
experiences that they're invitedto dive deep into, and make
themselves at home in.
(34:25):
And in thinking about that kindof creative call in particular
in the cultural moment, thatit takes really different forms
across I think non urban areas,but it is a kind of cultural
moment where that kind of work.
And that kind of perspective, inand of itself is an act of
enormous generosity, to createthe kind of space for us to be
(34:47):
together. So I thinkin some respects, this ramble
that I just offered ishopefully an articulation of
thanksfor having experienced this. You
Your tree project and a lot ofthe work that you have been able
to do in our region. But I'mjust curious what this period
(35:07):
has been like for you as anartist, especially given this
cultivation of that in betweenspace that can lead us to a cusp
of change how, what has it beenlike to navigate these various
cultural currents in the lastcouple of years, in particular,
in a rural region?
Sharon Mansur (35:27):
That's Yes.
It's been a lot to work with.
Yeah, I was, when I first cameto Winona, Minnesota in 2005,
right after I got my dance MFAat George Mason, and I really
wanted to bein a more rural area, I
(35:48):
love urban areas. And I reallygrew and learned so much really
appreciated in Boston, New York,in DC. And I also felt I needed
to switch it up and be in a justbeing in a new place a new
space. And I felt I could offerour community, my own
(36:11):
experiences, and maybe sometools or maybe some framings
some ways to be. And I also feltlike I wanted to be able to be
closer, more access to thenatural environment more
readily. So in a way, I washoping for that sort of
partnership. And we notice StateUniversity, the dance faculty
(36:32):
position, there really helpedbring me to this area, and I
just fell in love with thecommunity. And this places and
spaces here.
And I kept a lot of context, onthe east coast. So I've been
back and forth for years. When Idecided to be back here full
time in 2015. As you werementioning, the presidential
(36:56):
elections, the next year, reallyheightened my desire to bring
what I could my artistic lenstowards trying to keep that open
space towards more nuanced,complex conversations. I had a
sea Mac grant that I had beenworking on right before the
(37:17):
election results. And as soon asthey were announced, I drew out
that project I was thinkingabout, I can't remember what
project I was writing, aboutmaking. And I
dove into what I don't know ifit's a direct companion piece.
But certainly I had offwhite inmind when I proposed making
(37:40):
dreaming under cedar tree, and Ifelt the most genuine way I
could offer a space to try tokeep educating or keep open
dialogue was to dive into myfamily heritage again. And so I
wanted to be that vulnerable formyself, rather than retracting,
(38:03):
receding from the hostility andthe polarizing. I wanted to
find my own grounding and inthat perhaps offer a chance for
others to find their grounding.
And be willing to take somerisks or have a little more
(38:23):
courage. If there were otherswho were willing to, you know,
engage in dialogue, the windowwas through my Arab heritage,
but that was really just thestart of conversations about
difference or otherness orlanguage, human nature,
(38:45):
governments, politics, anynumber of us windows in
but just to be able to sittogether and look each other in
the eye.
One story was is was hopefullyabout many stories and many
people and I found that I feltthat was a worthwhile risk to
(39:06):
take. And so the my cedar treesolo, then expanded, I was
invited by Teresa remmick, themanaging director at the Paige
series at St. Mary's Universityhere and when she saw the Sita
tree beaming under see a treesolo that was at public launch
invited me to expand intocurating and create three events
(39:28):
for the next season and I was soexcited. One of my favorite
things to do is to support otherartists so I was so thrilled to
be able to invite Fadi bucaro,an incredible Lebanese
photographer and highlight hisLebanon, USA, cross country
expedition and photography andstorytelling project and bring
(39:50):
him to anona zaatar I wasthrilled to invite and highlight
Palestinian American artistsLila our dolla
Based in the cities,and internationally as she
wanders, and then lay him on atwo wheel, a Syrian Palestinian
American artist based inCalifornia, again, the sense of
talking about Palestine, here inour rural context, we're all
(40:16):
upper Midwest contexts to openup that space be a little more
direct, be a little moreparticular, be more specific,
right about what it means to betreated humanely in the world,
and what the US is, you know,what our involvement is. And,
(40:42):
again, to look at thecomplexities of the cultures
that were all immersed in,what were the kinds of
conversations that werecultivated in the community?
So I remember from the dreamingunder a cedar tree solo, we had
multiple nights of performing,so multiple meals, multiple
(41:03):
discussions, and I just lovedhow, when people were feeling
comfortable enough to ask me,you know, very simple questions
that were on their minds. Andyet, maybe they just hadn't felt
they knew where to ask, mean,asking whether my father was
Muslim or not. And had heconverted, because he's
(41:23):
Christian. I mean, in a way,it's, the assumption was that he
was Muslim.
But yet in the context of thatdiscussion, and meal, and after
seeing the work i'd shared, itwas just a great entry point
intolooking at assumptions we all
have about a certain area or acertain culture, and to build up
(41:47):
the connection, and I would,what I felt was some trust to
ask me directly about my father.
And for me to respond, and talkabout the multiplicity of
religions that exists inLebanon. I feel like this is
like the best way I've learnedwhen I've been in learning more
(42:08):
formal learning contexts. Andthen my joy as an educator, too,
is you're just setting up theconditions for us all, to have
just a chance to think through areflect a little bit more. And
so that brief exchange aboutasking if my pursuing my father
was Muslim, if he's not, then hemust have converted, but then
the person I was talking withjust watching them go through
(42:28):
their own thought process oflooking and saying, Oh, well, of
course, the complexity of anyregion, there's going to be a
complexity of religions.
I remember as the audience, Ihave those had those topics that
those off when I call with myoff whiteboard, in the middle of
the show, I would write a topiceach show, and the debate about
(42:50):
whether I was white or notwhite. I mean, that was a really
powerful moment that then ledinto the discussion during the
meal afterwards, of the originof the bipoc, acronym and person
of color. With that phrase, theorigin of that phrase, again,
the complexity around thoseterms, like how we're choosing
(43:13):
words, who's using them, howthey started to be used,
that that discussion reallystruck me as well. And then when
setar in terms of Palestine, youknow, the powerful work that
both Leah and Layla presented,Layla decided to use a lot of
samples from recent news, youknow, very direct, very specific
(43:37):
news clips, and interviewexcerpts to really bring that
into the forefront with watchingher moving body of Palestinian
heritage. And then layer two,we'll
who in that moment, and thattime with that work in progress
was essentially saying, Well, mywork moving through being
(44:03):
transmitted through my body fromthe Arab diaspora isn't itself
enough of a statement ordiscussion point.
So again, that's I think thatgoes back to that verbal and
nonverbal discussions. So withinthe discussions after the show,
and during an artist talk, thethree of us did, a lot of that
(44:23):
was centered around what ourinstruments are as dance
artists.
And I know a couple people wereasking us about, like how much
ourpolitical points of view really
play in versus our own personaljourneys. And in a way, that
sense of Here we are, like wecan't separate from our bodies.
(44:45):
So in a sense, it's always aboutit, and then maybe it's not.
Maybe it's also very universal.
Something that feels reallysignificant for me.
Matthew Fluharty (45:00):
In hearing these direct ways in which
yourself and your collaboratorsopen up the space for dialogue,
specifically, here in a ruralregion of the upper Midwest, I
think is that it creates thespace for audiences to sit with
(45:22):
various embodied forms ofcultural generational and racial
difference, as opposed to sortof what I think I think can
happen in a really broad macrocultural level, in the Midwest,
speaking out of my ownexperience, like oftentimes a
really quick reaction towards,we're just gonna find
(45:44):
commonality. And that'll be athing. And it is sort of a
euphemism towards,not existing in, in an
uncomfortable indeterminantspace, that that gap, you're
talking about, where the wherethe change can occur, and the
action can be taken. And just assomeone following your work, it
feels really powerful with thatas well, is there's the
(46:05):
cultivation of that kind ofspace, to sit together and to
meditate on difference and toask questions.
And that the cultivation of thatas a quality in your work
is emerging. As you share someof these creative projects with
a sense increasingly, that youare an artist, you are someone
(46:29):
who works really deeply incollaboratively with folks, very
interdisciplinary. But there'salso, I think, a really unique
form of curation that happens toand that maybe has developed in
developed really organicallyover the arc of this work that
would trace itself back to pre911 moment in DC. And I guess
(46:54):
that leads us to your mostcurrent work 1001 Arab futures.
And I'm wondering if you couldjust share a little bit about
that work and how it cametogether. And you know what,
you're excited for audiences onthe ground, but also online to
experience?
Sharon Mansur (47:13):
Yes, 1000 on air futures. That all started with a
McKnight foundation dancerfellowship in 2018. was so
fortunate to be selected and bepart of an amazing cohort. And
be really mentored by Mary Ellenchild, who was the dance
(47:35):
fellowship coordinator,who was recently retired and
it's now Dana castle, who wasMary Ellen's associate. And so
Mary Ellen and Dean, I've beenreally so instrumental and in
our futures coming to be becauseshortly after we found out part
of the fellowship included asolo commission where we can
(47:55):
invite an artists to create asolo for us. I wanted to invite
three artists to work with me,and they both they generously
agreed to try to make thatvision happen. And through the
CDBG project network throughLayla and Leah. I reached out to
them and asked who they mightrecommend. I really wanted it to
(48:19):
bean outgrowth of the web that I
was evolving, and so they led meto Yara Boustany, who's an
incredible Lebanese danceartists usually based in Beirut,
currently in Europe, LouLou VonKohl, who is Palestinian,
(48:41):
Lebanese Danish dance artistbased on the east coast in New
York City primarily. And thenAndrea Shaker, Minneapolis based
visual artist, andsimilar to unidentified I really
want to launch myself intoworking with new artists and new
processes really challengedmyself. And then similar to
(49:01):
zaatar, I was so thrilled tofinally be able to be in
proximity and in process withother artists of Arab heritage.
That's something I didn't havegrowing up or in college or
professionally at all. I hadnever had that until I brought
this guitar artist guitar triotogether. And so having all of
(49:22):
that together was really such adream for me to be working with
these three amazing artistsdirectors. Of course, COVID
tossed all of our plans andlives into new stratosphere
ears, and the process becamemostly online, as opposed to me
going to visit each one. And wehad to really
(49:47):
work how in terms of maintainingthat embodied connectivity, and
I thought we did a great jobbetween even our zoom
connections or emailing orwriting some snail mail.
sending some packages to eachother, I still feel like we kept
centering around the body andour senses what we were each
seeing and feeling and thinkingand responding to, you know,
(50:11):
COVID in that sense of thevulnerability of the body that
we all we were experiencingglobally became a strong thread.
And the upheaval of our livestalk about the gap space, we all
were in the gap spacecontinually to current events in
the our Arab worlds, theprotests in Lebanon, we follow
(50:33):
closely, starting in fall of2019, to the horrible exposure
at the port in Beirut in summer2020, which damaged Jaras studio
art studio, we helped her raisemoney to repair it, and to the
ongoing but then the currentintensity, increasing intensity
(50:54):
in Palestine, and putting ourthoughts towards Palestinians.
still needing and deserving thefreedom that we all you know,
every human should have that allwove into the work and the
generosity and insight they allprovided me in how to look back
(51:17):
at family, how to pick up ondetails that are personal and
universal how toask questions and be curious
about what we don't know, orwe're not sure about, but keep
following the thread, pull onthose threads to trust our
imaginations.
(51:39):
And our dreamscapes, I mean thatall they took lots of twists and
turns with me because we wentfrom having an indoor theater
performance, to pivoting to anoutdoor site specific
extravaganza.
That is a nonstop adventure,logistically. But they've all
(52:00):
been just so creative andwonderful senses of humor, we've
supported each other through jobchanges and meaning to move
house and car accidents. Andjust as friends as people who
care about each other. And whenthings have been very chaotic.
(52:21):
This has been a grounding pointfor us, just to come and
dialogue with each other. Sowhat we're sharing this weekend,
we really see is just your partof the continuum of this like
year and a half is really in2019 is when I invited them when
we started. What the audience'swill see either in person or
online is just meeting us alongthis continuum of dialogue, of
(52:44):
asking questions about thefuture futures, which again, I
think COVIDhas been just an amazingly
unique and surreal andheartbreaking context to be
talking about future. I broughtup that theme originally because
I was curious about ourfuturism, you know, movement to
(53:06):
really envision what could theair bachelor be, and really
trying to break out of othernarratives but a lot of colonial
frameworks, language, inpositions violence, and what
what could it be and then yetfuturism as a general concept,
worldwide, what is our future,when so much was totally in
(53:29):
upheaval, from our dailyroutines, everything right? How
we interacted with people. Andso much art was taken away.
to like, we were all making artin our living rooms.
And through a computer screen,so coming out to this weekend to
be able to share with theintimate audience 20 people each
(53:51):
night, outdoors, but in personto share some of our struggles
and hopes and dreams feelsreally potent and very moving to
all of us, actually. And then totranslate that online. We have
some ways of approaching thatthe watch party we're offering
we hope to engage in some ofthat conversation that I love so
(54:15):
much later to we'll bemoderating a discussion among
all of us. And yeah, just theidea of being open to future and
also honoring where we are inthis present moment.
Future being the very nextmoment, future, honoring where
we have been trying to locatewhere we are, which a lot of
(54:38):
times that was a struggle toeven understand where we were in
a certain moment.
And accepting all that was inthat moment, the loss,
the tragedy, but honing into anessence that can we take
ourselves into that very nextmoment and really that next
(54:59):
moment, is the nextsmell, when is the future like
that very next moment. And it'sreally, I feel like what we
bring to bear is what I learnedfrom these, this trio of
directors,the incredible presence and
curiosity that they each bring.
To support that next moment.
Matthew Fluharty (55:19):
Sharon I'm rateful for your time in this
onversation. And as we look,stepping out of this shared
space together, maybe withnotions of futures, on on a
space in front of us on thetable here, I want to offer a
couple things to our audience.
First and foremost, all of theamazing collaborators that
(55:40):
Sharon has shared with us, allof these projects can be visible
and linked to through our shownotes on your various podcasting
platforms that you prefer.
Also visible on inhighvsibility.org as well as S
aron's website, man, sewer dnce.com, this will all be in t
(56:03):
e show notes for you all, as wll as links at those various U
Ls. So folks can check out bth the the online performance a
d the conversation to follow. Sall this is available to f
lks, regardless of when you my have the chance to listen to t
is conversation, and sharing awe cut out on our separate w
ys here this afternoon. I'm jst wondering, a question we a
(56:25):
k folks. Is there a book a pece of music a place food, a t
adition, something that's ispiring you right now, as we l
ok ahead to the summer slstice and a couple of days, a
d it's hotter than normal in te upper Midwest? Is there a
ything that's inspiring you in tis moment?
Sharon Mansur (56:46):
Well, Matt, I've been listening a lot to that
anthology that you hadsuggested. For me to anthology
of electric acoustic Lebanesemusic. You remember recommending
that to me? I've been playingthat
over the past month and how I'mjust sort of been jamming on
(57:06):
that.
Yeah, if you want to cook somelike cooling Lebanese foods and
some salads,some refreshing flavors, I check
out Julie Taboulie's Lebanse kitchen cookbook. very engag
ng and accessible. A lot of simiar recipes to what I grew up wi
(57:26):
h. Oh, is there one in particuar that springs to mind? First
ut of that book? Oh, the to buly. Really? All right, typical
y. Are you going to make some
Matthew Fluharty (57:43):
sounds really good.
Sharon Mansur (57:47):
Let's make a date.
Matthew Fluharty (57:50):
Oh, man, that sounds great. Sharon, thank you
so much for your time today inthis conversation.
Sharon Mansur (57:56):
Thank you, Matt.
Always so good to talk with you.
Matthew Fluharty (58:02):
Thanks again to Sharon for her time and
generosity in this conversation.
Please check out the show notesin the high visibility site at
high visibility.org for furtherinformation on all the artists
work she shared with us today.
Thanks so much for spending sometime this conversation
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