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ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder alumna, Iraqi war refugee and artist Sama Alshaibi is one of the newest recipients of the prestigious Guggenheim fellowship

When asked how it felt to join a list of Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and eminent scientists, artist Sama Alshaibi (MFAArt’05) was blunt.

“It feels pretty darn good,” said Sama Alshaibi (MFAArt’05), who back in April won one of the world’s most prestigious honors—a Guggenheim fellowship—for her work as an artist and photographer.  

At the top of the page: Jarasun Yaqra’li-l-Mawt (Death Knell), 2010. Same Alshaibi. Above: Sama Alshaibi. Photo by Zakiriya Gladney.

While she’s enjoyed great success, exhibiting in 27 countries and winning countless awards, her life hasn’t always been that way.

“I am war refugee from Iraq,” she said. “We escaped during the Iraq-Iran war in the early 1980s.” 

After migrating across the different Middle Eastern countries, she and her family eventually arrived in the United States in 1986. 

Then 9/11 hit. She said it triggered images and memories she had been suppressing for years. 

“It was then I understood that my art could act as resistance and question the patriotic fever ripping through the U.S. that was fueling the march to war with a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11,” Alshaibi said. “Iraq had already deeply suffered from unjust U.S. foreign policies. It was not an easy time to question Islamophobia and anti-Iraqi hate, but I found my voice.”

And to hone that voice, she applied to the Department of Art and Art History’s MFA program at the University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder. “By the time I was enrolled in the fall of 2002, I was ready to start making the work that had eluded me before.”

Today Alshaibi is a professor of photography, video and imaging at the University of Arizona. She recently answered a few questions about herself and her art. 

Question: How would you describe your photography and what do hope viewers take from it?

Answer: “In my photography practice, as well as my video work, I use my own body as a site. I perform the gendered and social impacts of war and migration on people and the environment. Independent of an audience, these performances in my photographs explore the social and political dimensions in the aftermath of war or being displaced by war. I hope audiences reflect and consider the issues presented in the work and that it makes them question what they know, or for others, feel heard.”

Q: How did you first get interested in art or photography? Is there anything in your childhood set you on the course to be an artist?

A: “My father taught me photography when I was young. He was not an artist, though. My mom is the artist. She paints and draws and is an incredible designer. Clothes, fashion, homes, you name it. She now collaborates with me and makes most of the costumes seen in my work.” 

Q: Was there a piece of advice, a lesson or an experience at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder that has helped you most in your art career? 

A: “I think the most critical juncture came in my first thesis committee meeting. I had worked for weeks on a whole concept, wrote a long proposal, printed copies and even brought in prototypes of what I was envisioning. All of my faculty members were encouraging, but Albert Chong, my thesis chair, thought I could do better. 

“In the immediate aftermath, I was pretty devastated, crushed, actually. He wrote me a long email. In a nutshell, he said it was because he believed in me, that he thought there was more in me, and that I was resting on work I already knew how to make. 

“Honesty is a gift, and Albert helped show me that I could take chances and really grow. I got over my bruised ego pretty quickly and realized he was right. The thesis work I eventually made was my gateway into a tenure-track teaching position and an international career. I still exhibit that project. Albert gets a lot of credit for pushing me to want more for my practice and myself.” 

Q: How do you plan to use the Guggenheim grant? 

A: “I have a new image-based project with sculptural elements that is focused on gendered violence in Iraq. The subject implicates the U.S. role and those they ushered into power, in destabilizing life for Iraqis and especially for women and girls. I am grateful that those who evaluated this proposal could see that what is happening in Iraq today in the aftermath of multiple wars are issues the arts should be concerned about within the United States.”