How to be(come) Arab

- American

In my case I started with unpacking.

Yesterday I arrived in Dearborn, Michigan to start my residency at the Arab American National Museum for the month of September. When I am traveling, even when I am visiting home in Egypt I don’t unpack, I usually live out of my suitcase.

What does it mean to be Arab?
What does it mean to be Arab and not master my official mother tongue which is standard/classical Arabic?

I struggle with short term residencies as my work usually is born out of time passing and in accumulation.

I struggle with what we call in the arts “identity based work” because I am not sure what that is.

If I make work about my father who lived and died in Egypt, is my work about Egypt? About being Arab?

I come to this residency with more questions than I have answers. My main goal during my time here is to engage with the community in Dearborn and to learn.

My official mission while here is to look into home making through little objects.
My secret mission is to inquire about what it means for me to be Arab or Arab American, a question I never really sat with before.

Maybe to get there, I need to remedy what I think is “missing” in my knowledge. More about that later.

They said: you have to address the elephant in the room.

But first and for the first time ever. I made a home here by unpacking my suitcase into a closet where I can actually see how many tops and bottoms I brought with me and how, as always, I didn’t bring enough clothes with me and all the ways I will regret my wardrobe choices.