August Updates with the Embassy Cultural House

Dear Embassy Cultural House community, 

August is usually a time of leisure and relaxation for many, but things have continued to ramp up for the Embassy Cultural House. Issues surrounding the climate crisis have continued to require international attention. Our team extends our sympathies to the many people in Canada and abroad who continue to be affected by the horrific wildfires that are raging across the country, and further afield. 

Wildfires raging in BC. Photo credit: Fern Helfand

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Portraits of Sam Hallick: Modern Arab Presence in 
Twentieth-Century North America by Salah D Hassan

Embassy Cultural House Editions, 96 pp., $20, September 2023, ISBN 9781777492144

​ECH's newest publication, Portraits of Sam Hallick: Modern Arab Presence in Twentieth-Century North America by Salah D. Hassan will be available on September 5, 2023. This publication marks the Embassy Cultural House's seventh in-house publication, and the first publication to be written by an ECH contributor. 

This book examines photographs of an Arab immigrant coming to the United States taken during the early twentieth century, a period when photography was becoming more accessible to the general public. Arabic-speaking immigrants to the US had photographers take professional portraits in their shops, on the street, in offices, or in factories. Journalists and ethnographers also took photos documenting the presence of Arabic speakers in varied locations across the United States. The main focus is on photos of Sam Hallick, the author's maternal grandfather, who arrived in the US around 1900 and lived in South Dakota before returning to his home village in the Beqa'a Valley in 1920. Hassan pieces together the story of Sam Hallick from family photos and the public record, reading the family portraits in relation to modern forms of Arab self-representation. 

To order a copy of this book, please contact [email protected]. 

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Check out the story behind Indwell's Embassy Commons!

In Indwell's newest video, experience the story of a London Old East Village icon—the Embassy Hotel—and the creation of Indwell's newest affordable housing complex--Embassy Commons—and the power of art to build community. The video also explores the creation of Jamelie Hassan's Embassy at Nite mural and Clayworx's Love, Hope, and Belonging mosaics on the exterior of the Embassy Commons in London, Ontario, Canada. Throughout the film, stories of the Embassy Hotel and the Embassy Cultural House are shared by Julie Ryan, Indwell's Community Engagement Coordinator, Hanny Hassan, brother of Jamelie Hassan and Helen Haller (1943-2019), Jeremy Jeresky of the London Arts Council, and Beth Turnbull Morrish, the Embassy Common's Mosaic Art Director. 
 
To learn more about Embassy Commons, please visit Indwell's website. 

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Ron Benner's community corn roast returns with
​Doors Open at Museum London! 

Ron roasting corn on Maiz Barbacoa in 2022. Photo credit: Kuefner Photography

​Join artist Ron Benner on Saturday, September 16, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm for Museum London's annual outdoor corn roast. Enjoy corn on the cob with butter, salt, chili powder, and lime juice freshly roasted from Benner's Maiz Barbacoa — part corn roaster and part sculpture. Live acoustic music by Frank Ridsdale will accompany this feast!

For more information about this event, please visit Museum London's website 

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Equal to Mystery: In Search of Harold Sonny Ladoo by Christopher Laird

​Peepal Tree Press, 232 pp., $30.95, April 2023, ISBN 9781845235628

When the Trinidadian novelist Harold Sonny Ladoo was found dead soon after the publication of his classic novel, No Pain Like This Body, for Christopher Laird, it became an obsession to try to discover the writer behind the work and what had brought about his untimely end.Equal to Mystery – words written by Ladoo – is the record of that pursuit.
 
Christopher Laird is a film-maker and producer who has produced over 300 documentaries, dramas and other video productions with Banyan Ltd. over the past 40 years garnering a score of national, regional and international awards. He has overseen the establishment of what is arguably the world’s largest digitised collection of Caribbean culture on video in the Banyan Archive.

For more information about the book, visit Peepal Tree Press. 

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First to Leave the Party: My Life with Ordinary People...
Who Happen to be Famous by Salah Bachir

Penguin Random House, 336 pp., $36.95, October 2023, ISBN 9780771006111

A marvelous and compulsively readable collection of stories from the life of Salah Bachir—philanthropist, art collector, movie industry insider—who, with his sheer zest for life, art, human interaction, and giving back to his community has endeared himself to some of the most famous and creative people in recent times.

Bachir, who immigrated to Canada from Lebanon with his family in 1965, is a gay activist who has worked in the film world for over four decades. While this has given him undeniable front-row access to Hollywood’s biggest stars, it is Salah’s personal charm and kindness, his philanthropy, his overall style (think hats, scarves, brooches, pearls, and diamonds), and his deep involvement in the art world that have made him a friend, companion, confidante, and/or lover to so many—including Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Tyler Moore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Edward Albee, Diahann Carroll, Orson Welles, Aretha Franklin, Norman Jewison, and Elizabeth Taylor—although it’s true that Katharine Hepburn once turned him down, very nicely.

Collected here in this wonderful book are personal stories of them all—some short, some long, some surprising, others juicy, and all fascinating. Through them we get to know Salah, a larger-than-life character that embodies the many worlds he shapes—the kind of person it would be hard to make up if he didn’t already exist.

For more information about Salah Bachir, please visit his website. 

For more information about the book, please visit Penguin Random House. 

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Dollirium: The Resurrection at TAP Centre for Creativity and Words: The Literary and Creative Arts Festival!

“Dollirium: The Resurrection" poster for TAP featuring an art doll by Jacqui Gallant.

The Embassy Cultural House would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the artists of Dollirium: The Resurrection for bringing a unique exhibition to TAP Centre for Creativity from July 5th to August 5th, 2023, and for adding an engaging new group of voices to the Words canon! During the Words event on July 26, 2023, Words host Joshua Lambier, interviewed Anthony Veilleux, Jacqui Gallant, and Sarah Legault to explore how these artists use their artistic vision and skill sets to create charismatic characters with endearing stories. They also talked about why they searched out other like-minded creators and developed opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and community.
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The Resurrection showcased work by art dollmakers: Dagmara Antic, Sandra Arteaga,  Melanie Ashton, Kelly Chehardy, Michelle de Pinto, Sara Deck, Kylie Dexter, Chris Elliott, Jacqui Gallant, Pandora Gastelum, Vicky Georgousopoulou, Christophe Goussault, Caroline Jones, Lonnie Jones, Bubu Kamitakahara, Sarah Legault, Kamilla Meesters, Vilia Merton, Kamila Mlynarczyk, Gerakina Pastogianni, Melissa Panth, David Pound, Beth Robinson, Kook Teflon, Tom Taggart, Kat Toronto aka “Miss Meatface”, Anthony Veilleux.

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GardenShip and State exhibition catalogue now available! 

This exhibition catalogue brings together 20 artists and writers who engage in decolonial critique, environmental activism, and 21st-century artistic practices to address what is arguably the problem of our times: environmental catastrophe. It asks how we can work together, and create together as a global community to restore the planet – while respecting differences, and seeking to repair divisions and address injustices brought about by colonialism. Designed by Katie WIlhelm and edited by Ruth Skinner, the catalogue expands the conversation with the inclusion of new essays and conversations. 

The catalogue features works from the exhibition that were produced over a two-year period—the results of conversations between the artists and writers, oftentimes with members of their local communities. Featuring artists Ron Benner, Lori Blondeau, Sean Caulfield, Paul Chartrand, Tom Cull, Amelia Faye, Michael Farnan, Joan Greer, Jamelie Hassan, Sharmistha Kar, Jessica Karuhanga, Mark Kasumovic, Patrick Mahon, Mary Mattingly, Quinn Smallboy, Ashley Snook, Adrian Stimson, Jeff Thomas, Andrés Villar, and Michelle Wilson. 

The catalogue is available for purchase at Shop Museum London. 
For more information about the GardenShip and State collective, please visit their website. 

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To Western University and our dedicated Contributing Editors! ​

When the Embassy Cultural House was launched online in 2020, some of our earliest supporters included the faculty and students of Western University's Department of Visual Arts, Through the Graduate and Undergraduate internship programs, Embassy Cultural House has been fortunate to host many students from the department, some of whom continue to work with us today. 

To our contributing editors past and present—JoAnna Weil, Jared Hendricks-Polack, Liv Pattison, Charlotte Egan, Turing Xu, Mackenzie Smith, Imogen Clendinning, Andreas Buchwaldt, Anahi Gonzalez, Ashar Mobeen, Iraboty Kazi, Shelley Kopp, and Blessy Augustine—thank you!  

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Thank you for reading!