The piece, “Midnight Prayers,” is notable for its symbolism and rich use of colors, depicts a scene of Arab life in a hopeful, healing and spiritual way, says Zughaib.
“‘Midnight Prayers is my imagination of the call to prayer. The beauty of the call to prayer, combined with the rich detail of intricate Islamic designs in blues and greens, symbolize the beauty and lushness of the Arab world,” Zughaib told Arab News in a recent interview from her studio in Washington. “The colors — blues and greens — were chosen to further express that idea of tranquility and peace. And, at the essence of that painting is my hope for a peaceful Middle East.”
The painting reflects her hopes for peace and tranquility in that region. “I envision the call to prayers as unifying everyone. Even though there is a lot going on in that painting, the impression that you get is of calmness and stillness,” she added.
President Obama’s gift to Prime Minister Maliki is not the first time Zughaib’s work was exchanged between political leaders, but it is the most noteworthy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Zughaib’s interpretation of the Washington monument to King Mohamed V, when she recently traveled to Morocco. The artwork was purchased by State Department's Office of Protocol, which obtains gifts for the President, First Lady, Vice-President and Secretary of State for presentation to heads of state.
Zughaib’s paintings have been broadly exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe and Lebanon. Her paintings are included in many private and public collections, including the White House, World Bank, Library of Congress, US Consulate General, Vancouver, Canada; American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq; and the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, Michigan.
Unlike the flamboyant hues displayed in her paintings, Zughaib wore a simple white blouse and a pair of jeans that flatter her slight figure for the interview. The meeting was conducted with her two cats, Stubby and Clumpy.
“He’s very smart,” says Zughaib about Stubby, an abandoned cat who lost his tail before Zughaib rescued and adopted him. She makes this observation as he gingerly walks along the edge of the latest paintings she’s preparing for an upcoming exhibit at the Jerusalem Fund, a DC-based organization charity that supports Palestinians.
Zughaib’s distinctive style of art is achieved through the medium gouache, “an opaque water color” used also in the illustrations of the Qur’an, and Persian and Indian miniatures, which she says influenced her.
Twenty wooden blocks, measuring six inches by six inches, are painted with different vibrant patterns. Zughaib says they represent the richly patterned embroidered garments of Palestinian women that varies from Palestinian town to town — many of which are now blocked by the 40-foot-high Israeli “security” wall.
In spite of the subject matter of her work, Zughaib says she does not consider herself political. “My aim as an artist, especially after 9/11, is to further the dialogue between East and West. We must continue to try to bring people together in conversation with the hope of mutual understanding, acceptance and respect.”
One of her paintings, entitled “Secrets Under the Abaya,” 2005, was created, she says, in response to the increasing negative perceptions of Islam and Muslim culture. In it, a silhouetted white figure is isolated in a black background, causing the viewer’s gaze to fixate on the repetition of an Iraqi proverb written in Arabic. The proverb reads: “There are many secrets hidden under the abaya.”
Born in Beirut to a Lebanese father and American mother, Zughaib lived mostly in the Middle East and Europe before coming to the United States to study art. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts, in 1981.
Her best-known series of paintings are “Stories my Father Told Me” based on his childhood in the Levant. The paintings reflect her family’s profound cultural ties to the Middle East, recreated through memories and sensations of her birthplace that resulted in vivid compositions of delicate figures and detailed narratives.
“I started to paint my father’s story after the 9/11 attacks, when things changed so much here,” Zughaib explained.
She was informed that she had been chosen for the exhibition while she was dining with her parents.
“My dad was in the midst of telling a story, as he often does, about family, relatives and his experiences back in Syria as a child. He was halfway through a story about my grandmother crossing the Litani River when the Turks were occupying Lebanon and my family was escaping. As my father was speaking, my mother suddenly said: ‘We have to record your father some time.’ Then, I received this phone call and all of a sudden everything coalesced, and the gallery owner loved the idea of me painting my father’s childhood remembrances,” she said.
Zughaib admits that her father needed strong persuasion before agreeing to the idea. “When I asked my father if I could paint his story, he was emphatic: ‘No!’”
So, she turned to her mother, who is American of Scotch-Irish descent, explained the problem and — as daughters have done for centuries when a father says no — asked her mother to talk to him for her.
“Fortunately my mother was able to persuade him,” said Zughaib. “And, he begrudgingly agreed to write his childhood stories for me, even though he said he considered them to be strictly family and very private.”
The result was hakawati, a series of stories. “Arabs have a tradition of story-telling,” Zughaib explains. “They revolve around their families. They are traditions and parables that teach you a moral lesson.”
With some nudging, Zughaib’s father wrote 14 stories for her, and she translated each one into a visual account of his childhood.
The result was a huge success. “People went crazy about them, not just Arab-Americans, but anyone who had experienced the immigrant tradition could identify with them…. These paintings helped me portray Arabs by showing their humanity. I didn’t do it for that reason, but that’s how it turned out.”
However, her father remained stoic about her success, Zughaib says. When he came to view the exhibition she had painted from his stories, he observed them all, but “He didn’t say anything.”
Once again, Zughaib turned to her mother for counsel. “The next day, he came to my studio, entered, but didn’t mention anything about my paintings. He just handed me a manuscript and said: ‘Here’s another story for you.’ Then, he turned around and walked out the door. He’s now given me a total of 22 stories,” Zughaib said, beaming.
“Stories My Father Told Me” are posted on her website: . “His writing is very charming. He is British educated, so his writing is very proper.
“My father is Syrian-Lebanese. My father was born in Damascus, and lived there until the French divided the country,” said Zughaib.
Her family was evacuated from Lebanon in December of 1975, she explains. “I left my father there, and my dad promised that we’d be back home in one week.”
But, as with so many refugees in that region, it did not happen. It was her recent solo art exhibit at Agial Gallery in Beirut that finally brought them back home.
“It was the first time I returned to Lebanon since I left 35 years ago,” she says. “I brought my father’s stories back with me, and I think after all the years of strife that they’ve had there, people would come into the gallery and remember their own experiences from their own villages… and were so happy that the traditions of their childhoods hadn’t been forgotten.”
The paintings seamlessly blend emotions that remain close to the heart: identity and nostalgia, with humor and love entwined in the rituals of village life. The success of her exhibition effect was immediate: “We pretty much sold the show out.”
Zughaib says the aim of her artwork is simple: “I hope my work inspires open and continued dialogue between the Arab world and the West. I truly believe that both sides share a common bond — and that one really can have a discussion over a painting that may end stereotypes. I really want to achieve mutual understanding and have that dialogue because I have a foot in both countries and in both cultures.”
