immigration
Guest curated by Amal Azzam and Nayfa Naji, the exhibition Wherever Home Is will focus on the feeling of belonging and being at home. Azzam and Naji have been collaborating since 2019 as Fanana Banana; Fanana means ‘artist’ in Arabic, and Banana, as Naji says, “just gave it a goofy twist.” Fanana Banana uses art and community events to raise awareness of the issues faced by American Muslim and MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) communities, and to reflect on how first and second-generation immigrants and their families cope with the challenges of finding a home in a new land and bridging communities while maintaining their cultural identity. Their projects investigate how having “an identity within an identity” affects mental health, body image, and political outlook, and the emotional toll exacted by facing racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice. Azzam and Naji themselves are Palestinian Americans from Milwaukee.
Organized through a statewide open call, Wherever Home Is will draw artists from farther afield than their previous exhibitions, which have been focused on Milwaukee artists. We anticipate that it will encompass artwork in all media, from traditional forms like calligraphy to mixed-media sculpture, video, and painting. Bookmark this page for information about gallery talks and public programs that will create opportunities for deeper engagement.
To learn more about the open call, visit @fananamke on Instagram.
A picaresque autobiographical journey that focuses on the simultaneous sense of belonging and dispossession that immigrants and their first-generation children often face.
Perspectives on the American experience and our shared identity.
Michael Bell and Sarah Lloyd explore fair labor systems for an increasingly diverse farm workforce.
John Gurda explores how in Milwaukee, as in other American cities, differences became divisions—and how we can work to reconcile the promise of diversity with its abundant challenges.
In Part I of a special series of Academy Evenings talks entitled "Understanding Immigration," UW–Madison history professor Thomas Archdeacon examines immigration in our nation's history and how it compares and contrasts with immigration today.
In Part II of the Wisconsin Academy's special "Understanding Immigration" series of Academy Evening talks, Jose Olivieri, an immigration attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich in Milwaukee, discusses the impact of immigration—
In Part III of the Wisconsin Academy's special "Understanding Immigration" series of Academy Evening talks, Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington DC, looks at the impact of i
In Part IV of the Wisconsin Academy's special "Understanding Immigration" series of Academy Evening talks, Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute addresses immigration issues and solutions.
Jeffrey G. Williamson, Emeritus Professor of Economics from Harvard University, discusses declining global emigration rates will affect American culture and commerce.
Wisconsin Academy Offices
1922 University Avenue
Madison, Wisconsin 53726
Phone: 608.733.6633
James Watrous Gallery
3rd Floor, Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.733.6633 x25