Join Indigo Arts Alliance June Artists in Residence, Minoo Emami and Kifah Abdulla, in a participatory lecture about how they used art as a tool for activism. Shaped by her life in post-revolutionary Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, including enduring eight years of city bombings, Minoo Emami’s artwork captures the resilience and challenges of women navigating such environments. Kifah Abdulla is a multidisciplinary artist, who uses painting, installation, sculpture, performance and writing to express his passion in art. His identity, origin, philosophy and the story in life’s journey shaped his way in art making. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn directly from each of these artists as they use their creativity as a vessel for empowerment and upliftment through their work. Audience members should expect to participate in small movements/gestures such as clapping, stomping, etc. __________ Minoo Emami is an Iranian multi-disciplinary artist with over 25 years dedicated to art practice, teaching, and exhibition. Filtered through her personal history, Minoo’s work touches on themes of memory, trauma, and the female body in relationship with architecture. She lived through the Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Green Movement, and the post-revolution years in Iran under its religious regime and endured the daily tragedies of a country in conflict. Her journey has helped Minoo to realize that the social implications of her work are equally important to artistic proficiency. She is committed to lifetime learning, advocating for herself and women like her, and contributing to the next generation’s understanding of humanity and equality.⁠ Kifah Abdulla, is a multidisciplinary artist, who uses painting, installation, sculpture, performance and writing to express his passion in art. Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, he now lives and works in Portland Maine. His identity, origin, philosophy and the story in life’s journey shaped his way in art making. Kifah believes since art is the product and creativity of human beings, it’s important to express the aspirations of the artist and society. It is also a witness and critic of social issues that happens in the contemporary time of humanity. He tries to document what he sees, feels, and imagines His artwork is often experimental, he is taking the western history of Modernism and upending it with use of text- not only text, but calligraphy. He consistently experiments by finding new methods of mark-making … sometimes rolling paint-covered tires across canvas on the floor, throwing paint-covered shoes at a canvas on the wall, etc. his challenge assumptions at all levels, in addition he is not confined to the practice of visual art, but is also a poet and memoirist. Moreover, he is reaching for a strong community engagement aspect to his practice. Kifah has shown his art through solo and group exhibitions in different paces and galleries in Maine.