SASAKI
REFLECTED
An exhibition re-imagining a future that reflects us all.
We invite you to reimagine a future that reflects us all, presenting a visual story by photographer Feda Eid. The portraits are set against the dramatic, complex backdrop of the Isabella Stewart Gardner’s museum’s galleries. Institutional spaces like these have historically excluded the stories, faces, and bodies of marginalized identities. Eid’s series foregrounds millennial artists and visionaries from Boston who bring their diverse backgrounds and experiences into their work.
In an artful act of reclaiming institutional representation, this series questions authorship and who has access to the physical spaces that cultivate and celebrate creative practice.
The exhibition features: writer, director and actress Paloma Valenzuela; DJ, producer, and community organizer Chimel Idiokitas; poet and educator Porsha Olayiwola; storyteller and co-founder of The Vanguard, Khanh “Aiden” Nguyễn; and youth and civil rights activist Sumaiya Zama.
Feda Eid
is a Lebanese-American visual artist and stylist from Boston, Massachusetts. Her work explores the expression of heritage, tradition, culture, identity, and the often tense but beautiful space between what is said, what is felt, and what is lost in translation. She captures these emotions through her bold use of color, textiles, adornment, and pop culture, linking the past with the present. As the daughter of Lebanese parents who fled the country's civil war in 1982, Feda is guided by her family's American journey and her own childhood growing up as a Muslim in the US. She believes telling personal narratives broadens our perspectives and ultimately helps us feel universal emotions that connect us all.
Feda studied sociology at Regis College and photography at the New England School of Photography. Her work has been exhibited throughout Boston and New York City.
@fedaeid
Image: Feda Eid - Feda I Portrait in Spanish Cloister
Paloma Valenzuela
Paloma Valenzuela is a Dominican-American writer, director, and actress who grew up in Boston. She is the creative director of the production operation La Gringa Loca Productions, based in Boston and the Dominican Republic. She has worked in several film productions in the Dominican Republic, and won an Iris Dominicana Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lolita in the 2017 film "Un 4to De Josue.". She is the writer/producer/creator of the comedic web series, "The Pineapple Diaries," which was featured in Latina Magazine's "5 Web Series Every Latinx Needs to Watch Right Now." In 2019, Paloma was featured in Boston Magazine's "Boston's New Creative Guard," and was selected as one of the WBUR The Artery 25, a series highlighting 25 millennials of color making an impact in the Boston arts scene. Paloma has collaborated with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Salon Luminary, and is currently editing and launching the third season of "The Pineapple Diaries." She is the recipient of the 2016 Creative City Grant, 2018 City of Boston Opportunity Grant, is a 2019 City of Boston Artist Fellow, and is an Artist in Residency at The Urbano Project (Spring 2020). She works as a teaching artist in Boston and has taught in various programs for Grubstreet, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and RAW Artworks.
Image: Feda Eid - Paloma I Portrait in Veronase Room
Chimel “DJ Real P” Idiokitas
Capturing the ear is the first step to capturing the mind. As a DJ, producer, event curator, and community partner, Chimel Idiokitas, also known as ReaL P, tells stories through music and social creativity. Born in Houston, TX and raised in Roxbury, MA to parents of Nigerian and Liberian descent, Chimel developed his love for music and community under the wings of his "vinyl junkie" father and his five hip-hop-loving older brothers. He currently serves as the Director of Community Outreach for Boston University’s Medical Campus, where he is tasked with developing key partnerships within the Greater Boston community to bolster the presence of the University.
Having been a DJ since the age of fifteen, ReaL P has also established himself as a staple in the New England nightlife, music, and entertainment scenes. He has curated social gatherings, parties, and concerts in some of Boston’s premier venues. Specializing in a multitude of genres, he has built his career around quality, passion, innovation, and organic fun. ReaL P always aims to deliver something fresh and thought-provoking for his audience.
Image: Feda Eid - Chimel II Portrait in Chapel
Khanh “Aiden” Nguyễn
envisions a future where all people are liberated from oppression. As a queer, Vietnamese-American activist, Aiden uses art as a platform to unite and uplift his community. He founded Vănguard, an international publication, and the Queer Vietnamese Film Festival, an independent film fest dedicated to celebrating the artistic and cultural contributions of the LGBTQ Vietnamese community within cinema. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the world, and was recently archived by the Library of Congress. In addition, Aiden has spoken at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and numerous universities about his activism.
Image: Feda Eid - Aiden II Portrait in Bardini Blue Stairway
Porsha Olayiwola
Black, futurist, poet, dyke, hip-hop feminist, womanist: Porsha is a native of Chicago who now resides in Boston. Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator, and curator who uses afro-futurism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman, and queer diasporas. She is an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the artistic director at MassLEAP, a literary youth organization. Olayiwola is currently an MFA Candidate at Emerson College. Porsha Olayiwola is the author of i shimmer sometimes, too, forthcoming with Button Poetry, and is the current poet laureate for the City of Boston.
Image: Feda Eid - Porsha II Portrait in Little Salon
Sumaiya Zama
Sumaiya Zama is an Islamic Liberation Theology scholar, community organizer, reproductive justice advocate, and civil rights educator-activist from the Boston area. Sumaiya was a youth worker for the City of Cambridge, working primarily with children of color from immigrant and refugee communities. Currently, she serves as the Director of Community Advocacy and Education at the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA). In her role as Director, she works to provide all young people, community members, educators, and youth workers with the tools to self-advocate, implement inclusionary practices, build power, and hone leadership skills. She serves as the youngest board member of the Praxis Project, a national public health organization aimed to empower grassroots organizing in communities of color. She is also the co-author of the first sexual education and reproductive health curriculum that centers Muslim identity and is LGBTQ+ inclusive, which is set to be published with Advocates for Youth in February 2021. This curriculum was written with the Reconcavo Collective, a grassroots collective of Muslim womxn and femmes that Sumaiya co-founded. She holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science with minors in Human Rights and African Studies from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. As a writer, she believes in our ability to teach others and build bridges through storytelling and art.
Image: Feda Eid - Sumaiya II Portrait in Courtyard
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:
SERVICES
Curatorial Director
Exhibition Curation & Design
SPECIAL THANKS
TO OUR CREATIVE PARTNERS AT SASAKI:
Lucca Townsend
Emma Flowers
Joanna Chow
Nicolas Barrera
David Morgan
Marlee Gleiberman
Anastasia Lyons
Marija Draskic
Ge Feng
IMAGES
All photographs in the exhibition are courtesy of the artist Feda Eid ⓒ 2019
