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Illinois Issues
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Art and Ethnicity

Art and ethnicity
WUIS/Illinois Issues

Illinois' culture is a vivid tapestry woven by a multitude of artists whose ethnicity is central to their work. That metaphor illustrates the spirit of "art and ethnicity," the theme of this year's annual arts issue, the 11th the magazine has produced. 

This take on the arts is relevant because the pattern becomes more intricate when the state's immigrant and nonwhite population grows.

The number of foreign-born Illinoisans climbed to nearly 1.7 million last year — a double-digit percentage increase from 2000. Of the 12.4 million people who live in this state, 14 percent were born outside the United States. Add another 1.5 million Illinoisans who are children of immigrants. Turns out, immigrants and their offspring account for 26 percent of the state's population. 

That population is diverse, representing more than 100 countries of origin. But the majority of Illinois immigrants come from a trio of nations spread across three continents: Mexico, Poland and India. Mexico alone is the birthplace of nearly 700,000 Illinoisans. 

Illinois Issues hopes to give our readers a sense of the ways in which the state's multicultural history has enriched its artistic heritage. 

Take a closer look at individual threads: bright yellows, reds and greens in photographs that tell the story of Chicago's predominantly Mexican Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. We offer a view of the barrio through photographer Paul D'Amato's images. "The color he uses is not only painterly but essential in portraying a barrio culture of fellow visual artists — muralists, spray-paint artists and taggers,'' writes Stuart Dybek in his foreword to D'Amato's book Barrio: Photographs from Chicago's Pilsen and Little Village.

Next comes the deep, dark down-home blues as interpreted by Sterling Plumpp, a Chicagoan who expresses himself on paper rather than in song. 

Then we take a look at the modernistic petroglyphs that Bridgeport's Zhou Brothers splash across their abstract art. The creative duo left their native China with $30 between them and now sell their artwork for as much as $250,000 per piece. Talk about the American Dream.

Beyond Chicago, we take a look at the bicultural vision of Malaysian-born Champaign artist Siti Mariah Jackson. We profile Southern Illinois University Carbondale art professor Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, who describes a display of his paintings as "a visual discussion about Islamic art and the African-American experience.''

We also explore the question of rights to cultural artifacts: Do they belong exclusively to the nation of origin or are museums responsible for preserving a global heritage? Can art be a means of producing cultural understanding? The Zhou Brothers achieved one of their goals when they created a performance piece in 2000 for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland: to use art as an instrument for global unity. 

In Rogers Park, a neighborhood on Chicago's far North Side, international unity is practiced at the local level. That ethnically diverse area is home to the Cuentos Foundation, which uses art programs as a way of sharing cultures. Artistic Director Michele Feder-Nadoff founded Cuentos (stories) in the spirit of tikkun haolom, a Jewish principle that says each person has a responsibility to help heal the world. The foundation's motto: "Art giving voice to the stories of our diverse communities. Arte que da voz a los cuentos de nuestras comunidades diversas."

Born to a Mexican and an American who grew to regard each other as "one of them," Illinois author Luis Alberto Urrea writes in his autobiographical nobody's son, "When someone won't shake my hand because she suddenly realizes I'm half Mexican . . . I comfort myself with these words: 'I know how much color and beauty we all add to the American mix."'

 


Illinois Issues, December 2006

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