Kate Brooke: Stories of Home

Kate Brooke, Opossum Track Press

Stories of Home at Home:
Collaboration Phase

Stories of Home is the Lincoln Arts Council's public arts project celebrating that which brings us together - family - and that which sets us apart - diversity within our human community. Each of dozen professional artists was paired with a local family to learn that family's stories and then create a work of art out of the experience. The 12 works will travel through the community from June 2006 through February 2007, and will be shown - both together and separately - in homes, schools, businesses and community centers. Below is the story of Du'a, the piece that emerged from the collaboration between Zainab Al-Baaj and artist Kate Brooke.

At home: meet Zainab and her family

In the studio: see how the piece was created

Out in public : Du'a, the finished piece

Press and information: calendar, articles, blog

Have you viewed any of the "Stories of Home" pieces, or participated in a related event? Do you have a story of your own to tell, or would you like to share your response to the project? Please visit the "Stories of Home" BLOG (web log) and let us know what you think.

At home: meet Zainab and her family

"From the Mideast to the Midwest: New country, new lives: Iraqi refugees find a warm welcome -- plus snow! -- in Lincoln, Nebraska"
Story in Parade magazine, cover and pages 4 - 6, Sunday, October 10, 2010

2005/2006: Selected by the Lincoln Arts Council as one of the artists for their "Stories of Home" project, I first met Zainab Al-Baaj early in October of 2005. From mid-November to May I worked with Zainab and her family to create an installation piece from the family's stories of fleeing Iraq and creating a new home here in Nebraska.

The Al-Baaj family: Mohammed & Zainab with their three children.

Mohammed & Zainab's children (with Zainab on the far left)

Trying out a new jump rope.

The kids pose for a picture..

Zainab Al-Baaj and I first met on October 7, 2005. We didn't meet again until November 8th, after the Fast of Ramadan. Now began months of working together several hours almost every week Most of our time was spent at the Good Neighbor Community Center where Zainab works, but some of our time was spent in Zainab's home, at a local Arabic grocery store or restaurant, at my home, or at the home of one of Zainab's friends where I was made welcome at several religious gatherings. During this time Zainab and I talked, getting to know each other and one another's stories. I recorded most of our conversations, and later was extremely glad to have the audio files. Transcribing was a bear, but the recordings allowed me to be fully present during Zainab's and my visits without worrying about copying down information. From the transcripts I excerpted sections, using Zainab's own words to tell her story.


Zainab shares a picture of her twin sister and herself in a refugee camp.	Tracing on a map the route of Zainab's journey (Photo credit: Mike Flowers).	The youngest daughter's art is on display in Zainab's office.

Sharing photographs (credit Mike Flowers).

A conversation at the Arabic store.

Preparing an Iraqi breakfast.

Left: Zainab laughs at her drawing of a bicycle from one of the refugee camps she lived in.
Right: Floorplan of assigned quarters in the third refugee camp where the Al-Baaj family lived.

Developing material for the project:

Zainab's story involves a journey, part of it barefooted across a desert. I planned to make linoleum blocks based on footprints from Zainab and her family. To accomplish this, I needed photographs of their footprints from which to work. On a cold January day, we put a soggy hand towel on a tray, then put the tray on the floor. Each family member stood on the towel to dampen the bottoms of their feet. Next, they stepped onto brown craft paper, leaving a wet footprint for me to photograph. Zainab & Mohammed's youngest daughter was particularly dedicated to the project, providing me with many footprints.

Left: Making feet wet by standing on a soggy towel. Above: Damp footprints made on craft paper. I quickly photographed the prints before they dried.

In the Spring of 2006 Zainab's and my schedules often were too busy for us to get together, but we kept in touch and exchanged information over the telephone. On several occasions we used my website to facilitate our work on the project. For instance, when I wanted to represent an Arabic college textbook in the piece, I bought a stack of Arabic books from a local used bookstore. I took digital pictures of the covers and title pages and posted those to a web page where Zainab could view them. Later she called me and translated the titles for me. Not one was the engineering textbook I hoped for, but we found one that we agreed would work for the project. On other occasions we used web technology so that Zainab could tell me which of several toy trucks looked most like the one she remembers, or indicate which pictures of terrain most closely resembled desert she crossed barefooted during her escape from Iraq.

Top left: Zainab and I visit in my home while Doug Boyd films our meeting for the "Stories of Home" documentary.

Above and left: Zainab's first visit to my studio. Some of the panels for the piece can be seen leaning against the press in the background.

To read more about the creation of Zainab's and my piece for "Stories of Home," please go to the studio page (link is below).

To read the Lincoln Journal Star's article about the Al-Baaj family, please click HERE.

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This page was last updated on October 24, 2010

Stories of Home

At home: meet Zainab and her family	In the studio: see how the piece was created	Out in public : Du'a, the finished piece	Press and information: calendar, articles, blog

Kate Brooke, Opossum Track Press

Stories of Home at Home: Collaboration Phase

At home: meet Zainab and her family

Stories of Home

Stories of Home at Home:
Collaboration Phase