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What is the experience of the world's displaced And the latest incarnation of the Arab in the West
who are forced to find a new homeland? Those who is something wholly incomprehensible and strange,
are disconnected from all that is familiar—memory, a person who does not share even our basic human
place, and community—find themselves navigating desire to live in peace and freedom. In attempting to
new cultural terrains with the vivid awareness of negotiate this cultural and political climate, Arabs are
their un-belonging and alienation. They are caught forced to prove themselves to be harmless, nothing
between who they are and who they willl become in more than benign cultural curiosities.
this new place. While this is the perhaps the reality
that afflicts all exilic people, for the Arab immigrant It is the force of this historical and cultural
in the US at this juncture of time, the struggle is experience that formed the principal narratives
more formidable. In this country and at this time, behind Aissa Deebi's exhibit, Killing Time. Deebi
the figure of the Arab as the metaphorical cultural found himself newly arrived in New York and
other, we are told, threatens our very way of life. needing something familiar when he came across the
The artist holds a prism to this world and sees a Arab American arts are thriving at this moment, with
culture that is refracted by the ambient American the creation of literature, cinema, music, and visual
setting. The attempt to recreate the coffeehouse of art that tells the artists' stories or reflects the world
memory is impossible—the circumstance of their as they see it. Aissa Deebi's work is foremost in this
experiences in America has fundamentally changed groundswell—often focused on the intersection of
these exiles, and the act of being photographed the Arab and the West, and the power relations and
changes them still. This exhibit's photographs and mutual effects each has on the other.
accompanying sounds draw the viewer into this
world. In the various images, the viewer is up-close,
overhead, looking through a mirror—observing the
men in the café from different vantages. And make Lana Salah Barkawi,
no mistake, this is a man's space. Cast in a soft, Associate Editor, Mizna
yellow light, the men and their gestures are 2006
ponderous, questioning, caught momentarily
between here and there.
As I moved to Queens from rural New Hampshire, incidentally are the types of places I never actually
I wanted to search my new location for places that go to at home. I had always had serious discomfort
reminded me of home. Walking north past 28th with the inert, manly atmosphere of such places:
Avenue I was welcomed home: the street is lined spots where tea and coffee are sipped, water pipes
with Arabic grocery stores, sweets shops, Islamic smoked, and cards, dominoes, and shesh besh (backg-
fashion boutiques, cafés full of surly-looking men, gammon) are played for hours at a time.
halal meat shops, and more. I found that my
homesickness was easily soothed with a plate of One small café in particular caught my attention
labaneh with olive oil and pita bread. with its large sign topped with an American flag and
emblazoned with the message: The Arab American
After a few months I started to regularly attend the Community Center of Queens. The first time I went
shisha (water pipe) cafés on Steinway Street, which inside and sat down for a cup of tea, I made the
With the end of the week comes the most busy day in
the café. The place floods with young adults who come
to smoke shisha pipes in the backyard of the café, which
has been converted into a tent. Many of them are young
Arab men romancing foreign girlfriends: American, Chin-
nese, even Pakistani, but Arab women are very few and
far between in the café.Tonight, as I watched this weekly
ritual, Gamal, the café owner, came to me with a busin-
ness proposition. He asked me to take some shots of the
backyard to put in the front window to show everyone
what a nice tent he has to offer. “Let’s do some business,
Mr. Photographer!” he insisted. “I need the photos to be
as large as possible.”
Hitomi Iwasaki
Associate Curator
Queens Museum of Art
End notes:
1 & 2: Excerpts taken from Edward Said, “Reflection on Exile”
in Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures, The
New Museum of Contemporary Art and MIT Press. 1990.
3 & 4: Abeer Allam, “Astoria Jounal; Where Tea Doesn’t Mix With
Political Sympathies,” The New York Times, August 28, 2005.
At first glance the idle passerby might assume the Arab world. When modern times brought political
typical Arabic café to be a place of inertia where foment to the region, cafés also became regular
men aimlessly wile away the hours over coffee and haunts for revolutionaries, ultimately becoming
shisha. In fact, since its first appearance in Aleppo, fertile ground for the formation of contemporary
Syria in the 16th century, the Arabic café has been Middle Eastern politics and history. The Parliament
essential to the exchange of intellectual ideas and Café in Cairo played host to leaders of the Arab
transmission of culture throughout the Middle nihda (renaissance), including Jamaluddin Afghani
East. By the mid-20th century, the perception of and Muhammad Abduh, while decades later Faisal’s
cafés as meeting places where writers, artists and Café in Beirut became the favored meeting place for
filmmakers gathered to discuss matters of intellect, exiled PLO leaders and their protegés. Today, the
art and philosophy was firmly cemented in the beloved Egyptian author Nagib Mahfuz still frequents
It is the kind of conversation that most patrons would not The Fire Department and the city health department
dare have if Mr. Dewidar, the owner of El Khaiam, had been denied deliberately singling out any establishments because
at the cafe. of their clientele. Sid Dinsay, a spokesman for the city
health department, said that a few months ago ‘’the
For him, tea and politics do not mix. Mr. Dewidar does not department responded to a complaint of tobacco smoke
allow customers to watch Al Jazeera or CNN, and permits entering a residence from various establishments in the
only Egyptian movies or Arab music videos on the huge area’’ where El Khaiam is located.
television set up on a dark brown table in a corner of the
cafe. Mr. Dewidar strictly enforces his rule against political Maria Lamberti, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department,
discussions. If he suspects customers are whispering about said that Mr. Dewidar had received a summons in 2003, but
politics, he turns up the volume on the TV to drown them according to department records, the problem had been
out. If they retreat into the back patio to continue their corrected. She said the records did not specify the nature
discussions, Mr. Dewidar sends his brother outside to turn of the summons.
up the volume on the stereo out there.
Despite his prohibition on news and political talk,
If customers still do not get the message, Mr. Dewidar will Mr. Dewidar has attempted to create a little slice of Egypt
scold them. Sometimes, he will kick them out. in his cafe, importing tea, sugar, tobacco and water pipes.
While other cafes in Little Egypt cater to a younger crowd
‘’They talk nonsense,’’ said Mr. Dewidar, a 45-year-old of men and women, El Khaiam attracts older men seeking
Egyptian with a salt-and-pepper goatee and short-cropped the camaraderie of the cafes they remember from their
hair who moved to New York from Cairo 26 years ago. homelands.
‘’They say the same thing we hear on Al Jazeera or CNN.
America is good. America is bad. People come here to To clarify his loyalties to his customers, Mr. Dewidar
relax, not to hear the political views of jobless, miserable designed an unlikely montage. Mounted on a gaudy pink
As guests in his cafe, most patrons refused to talk about Reprinted with permission from the New York Times
Mr. Dewidar’s policies.When asked, some patrons looked
over their shoulders and joked that Mr. Dewidar might be
recording their conversations.
Killing Time and this publication would not have been possible without the support of
many friends and colleagues. In particular, I wish to thank Hitomi Iwasaki, Associate
Curator of the Queens Museum of Art, who supported this project from the early
stages through its original showing as part of Queens International 2004. I also thank
Hitomi for taking the time and effort to contribute to this publication. Mizna’s staff and
board, particularly editor Lana Barkawi, were instrumental in expanding Killing Time’s
audience by bringing the exhibition to Minneapolis and supporting the publication of
this catalogue. My wife, Jaime, has given me her support, encouragement, time, and
help from day one of this project. Finally, I wish to thank my dear friends Dr. Bashir
Makhoul, Farzat Suleiman,Wael Wakeem, Ibrahim Zabalawi all of whom contributed
significantly to the conceptualization and production of this project through their
expertise. Moukhtar Kocache has my everlasting gratitude for having introduced me
to the folks at Mizna.
ISBN 1-4243-0268-4
ISBN 978-1-4243-0268-0
(Beginning 2007)
This exhibit is made possible by the support of the General Mills Foundation and generous donations from individual supporters of Mizna.
[ 48 ] Aissa Deebi | Killing Time 2006