Pontiac's Creative Art Center Presents a Solo Show "Celebrations," by Ilham Baddredine Mahfouz, January 9-31, 2009

posted on: Dec 28, 2008

Pontiac’s Creative Arts Center presents a solo show of paintings and ceramics, “Celebrations” by Ilham Baddredine Mahfouz January 9 through January 31, 2009 at the Creative Arts Center, 47 Williams Street in Pontiac.

The opening reception, Friday, January 9, from 6 – 9 PM will include meeting the artist, a poetry reading by Ibaa Ismail and a violin performance by Lama Alghanem. Refreshments will be served. The public is welcome and there is no charge. There is free lighted parking in the Center’s lot on Pike Street, behind the Center. For additional information call 248-333-7849

Ilham Baddredine Mahfouz, who hails from Syria, lives in Bloomfield Hills, and is a multi-talented individual. She is an artist, teaches painting and ceramics at the the Center, teaches Arabic at University of Detroit Mercy,. She has participated in many international exhibits in Egypt, Turkey, Malaysia. She holds a BFA in Painting and Ceramics from Eastern Michigan University and is the recipient of numerous awards. Her works hang in several private collections, including at the Arab American Museum in Dearborn.

Credentials are insufficient to characterize Ms. Mahfouz’s expansive humanity and her unfettered joy at being alive. Her works, generally colorful and abstract , for the most part collectively point to hopefulness and affirmation. This show “Celebrations,” is an affirmation of all that we have to be grateful for. In her artistic statement she says, “ As we all face the hardships from the current economic crisis, and people are losing their jobs and heading for uncertainty, I just want to let you know that if one door is closed, 99 doors are opened, so focus on the 99 doors and forget about the closed one.” This exhibit is meant to illustrate her contagious optimism.

The opening reception will also feature poetry reading by Abaa Ismail, who also hails originally from Syria. She is much published in Arabic publications, and writes her poetry in Arabic first, then translates it into English. She holds a degree in English Literature from Tishreen University in Syria, and has done graduate studies in English and American Literature. She has done poetry readings at many American and Arab-American clubs. Her published works include “House of Light and Alienation” and “Songs of the Soul,” as well as a volume of poems for children.

Also performing for the opening reception is Lama Alghanem, a classically trained violinist. Lama Alghanem, currently a Pre-Dentistry student at WSU, is a classically trained violinist of Syrian heritage. Performing the violin since the age of 11, she was the concertmistress in the Clarkston Symphony Orchestra and the first violinist in her Beethoven Quartet. She has won numerous first division medals at District and State Solo and Ensemble Festivals. She is currently the President of the Arab Culture Club at Wayne State University, and is working towards a Biology major and Arabic minor. In 2005 and 2008 she studied Arabic violin in Syria and in 2006 and 2007, she had the opportunity to study with Qanunist Dr. Anne Elise Thomas and violinist Sami Shumays at the Global Youth Village and has been performing Arabic music ever since.

The opening reception will be a mini-festival of the arts! For additional information about Ilham Mahfouz, go to www.artistilhambadreddinemahfouz.com. For additional information call 248-333-7849, or 248-890-3850 between the hours of 1-5 PM