Community Foundation Challenge

Arab American National Museum, the Detroit Public Library Friends Foundation, The Detroit Institute of Arts and The Henry Ford as well as other Detroit area cultural institutions are participating in a fundraising effort called the Community Foundation Challenge – Arts & Culture. 

On August 18^th at 10:00, donors are asked to make their contributions of $25 – $10,000 via http://www.cfsem.org/.  Matching funds will earn each institution an addition 50% of the gift’s value.  Each participating institution has the potential to earn up to $200,000 in matching funds.  The money will help with much needed support of operating costs for institutions.

Donors will be asked to select the institution(s) they wish to donate to using a drop-down menu.  Click here for a list of participating institutions.  Matching funds will go fast, so be ready at 10 AM on August 18!

For more information: 
http://www.dia.org/calendar/programs_and_events/item.asp?webitemid=1963
http://www.culturalalliancesemi.org/

AANM Big Read Kickoff and Other Events

March 1, 2009 is the date for The Big Read Kickoff Hafleh (Party) at the Arab American National Museum.  At the kickoff party, which begins at noon, the main floor of the AANM will be “transformed” into an Egyptian café.  Dr. Trevor Legassick of the University of Michigan, who translated the book from Arabic into English, will speak at 1:30 p.m. in the AANM Library & Resource Center. RSVP with Kristin at 313-624-0223.

According to their website, the Arab American National Museum is “offering hundreds of free copies of the 1961 novel The Thief and the Dogs by Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, thanks to a $10,000 NEA grant and a $10,150 grant from Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET).  Some 17 free related public events – book discussions, films, lectures, even backgammon lessons – will take place around metro Detroit. Venues include the AANM, public library branches, universities and bookstores. Some events will be conducted in both English and Arabic.”  Events will take place  at the Arab American National Museum, the Dearborn Public Library, Wayne State University, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Barnes & Noble (Allen Park), and Sterling Heights Public Library.

The events at Wayne State University include:

Film Screening: 
Adrift on the Nile
Wednesday, March 4, 2009   
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Bernath Auditorium, UGL

Film Screening: 
Umm Kulthum:  A Voice Like Egypt
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Bernath Auditorium, UGL

Book Discussion: 
The Thief and the Dogs (al-Liss wa-al-Kilab) by Naguib Mahfouz
Thursday, March 26, 2009 
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
UGL Community Room

AANM Program Honored by First Lady

The SURA Arts Academy, a program at the Arab American National Museum, was awarded the 2008 “Coming Up Taller” award by Laura Bush at the White House on Friday November 14th.

For the full story, see the Detroit News and the press release from the AANM.

Arab American History Conference

The Arab American National Museum and the Arab-American Historical Foundation are presenting the 2008 Arab American History Conference on November 1, 2008.  The conference is from 8 AM to 3 PM at the Arab American National Museum and the cost is $25 ($10 for students).  Topics include oral, familial and communal histories, media and cultural representations, and organizations and political engagements.  For more information, call the museum at 313-624-0223.

Sandy Tolan Book Reading and Signing at the AANM

Journalist, teacher and public radio producer Sandy Tolan will appear at the Arab American National Museum at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17 to give a lecture and read from his book The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew and the Heart of the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2006). The Lemon Tree chronicles the lives of two families – one Israeli, one Palestinian – who both occupied the same stone house in Ramle, while telling the larger story of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) and the 1948 creation of the state of Israel.

During the lecture, Tolan will explore the 60th anniversary of that fateful event, share some of its untold history and discuss its contemporary impact. Following the lecture, Tolan will take questions from the audience and sign copies of his book, available for sale in the Museum Store. Attendees are welcome to bring their personal copies of Tolan’s book to the event.

The lecture in the AANM Auditorium is free and open to the public; RSVP to Fay Saad at 313.624.0200 or fsaad@cesscommunity.org

Sandy Tolan is a teacher and radio documentary producer. He is the author of two books: Me and Hank: A Boy and His Hero, Twenty-Five Years Later (Free Press, 2000), about the intersection between race, sports, and American heroes; and The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East . The Washington Post called the latter book “extraordinary” and placed it among its top nonfiction titles for 2006; the Christian Science Monitor wrote, “no novel could be more compelling” and proclaimed, “It will be one of the best nonfiction books you will read this year.”

Tolan has reported from more than 30 countries, especially in the Middle East, Latin America, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe. As co-founder of Homelands Productions, he has produced hundreds of documentaries and features for public radio.  He has written for more than 40 newspapers and magazines.

The Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, 48126.  Museum hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday.  Closed Monday, Tuesday; Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.  Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for students, seniors and children 6-12; ages 5 and under, free.
Call 313.582.2266 for further information.

Upcoming Events at Arab American National Museum

The Arab American National Musuem, a DALNET member library, will be hosting a book signing of American Crescent: A Muslim Cleric on the Power of His Faith, the Struggle Against Prejudice, and the Future of Islam and America by Imam Hassan Qazwini on March 5, 2008 from 6 to 7:30 PM.  Admission is free.  Click here for more information.

Additionally, the museum is displaying 25 works of Sari Khoury (1941-1997), a Palestinian artist and professor who taught at Central Michigan University for 30 years,  in the exhibit “Fragmentation & Unity: The Art of Sari Khoury.”  His works will be on display until April 27th.  Gallery talks about the exhibit will take place on March 2nd at 2 PM, March 14th at Noon, March 30th at 2 PM, April 11th at Noon, and April 20th at 2 PM. 

View more information about the exhibit here.

Look at the online-only companion exhibition here.

See the gallery exhibit guide (PDF) here.

Learn more about Sari Khoury here.

Read the Dearborn Press & Guide story here.

The Arab American National Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan.