Press Releases
Controversial Film Screening Depicts First Arab Movie with Gay Character
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH-The film Salvation Army, directed by Moroccan native Abdellah Taïa and based off of his autobiographical book of the same title, was screened for free in the Frick Fine Arts building on September 30th, and is the first film to openly address homosexuality among Arabs.
Salvation Army unapologetically explores the controversial journey of a young gay boy growing up in a strict Arabic community, engaging in sex at a young age with adult men, and sexually and emotionally manipulating men in positions of power to attain his freedom from an oppressive community. Based off of the director’s life, the film contains minimal dialogue and no music, resulting in a raw and minimalistic delivery.
Despite the rain, the film debued to a full house at 7 pm in the main auditorium at Frick Fine Arts Gallery, and was followed by a discussion session during which Taïa discussed the closeness of the film to his artistic as well as his emotional center. According to Taïa, the film was not received well in Europe, as some of the material was viewed as borderline pedophilic and did not give the reader any sense of closure in regard to the plot. It was “not the gay story they expected” he said. Taïa mentioned that the American reaction was surprisingly different.
When questioned as to the manipulative actions of the autobiographical main character, Taïa kept his head high. There is “no good way to save yourself,” he said, explaining that although some may think of the character Abdellah as a “monster” Taïa believes that is up to the viewer. People do what they must to survive, he emphasized.
“So you’re a monster?” The questioner pressed.
“We are all monsters.” Taïa replied readily. “We are all good and bad people.”
Taia made it clear that he is ecstatic to be out as a gay man, and that he is proud to be the first of Arab descent to publicize his homosexuality. His book and film especially provided outlets for this, and were things that he “put his soul into.”
More information about Salvation Army can be found here.
Pitt Gallery Offers Refreshing Perspective with Faculty Art Exhibition
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH- The fall “Reverberations” exhibit in the Frick Fine Arts Gallery gives Pitt students a unique opportunity to view the University of Pittsburgh's Studio Arts Faculty not only as teachers, but as active, talented artists in their own right. The fourteen featured artists include Lenore Thomas, Anna Divinsky, Michael Morrill, and Scott Turri, among others.
Open from September 10th through October 23rd 2015, the exhibit will display a range of multimedia work, including paintings, textile work, wood pieces, drawn creations, and combinations of the four.
Additionally, Portal -a collaboration between Studio Arts professors Aaron Henderson and Michael Morrill along with Music professor Mathew Rosenblum- will feature a spatially-specific work that includes lights that mirror the movement of sunlight through the room, four gold and blue paintings abstractly representative of the equinoxes, and thrumming music.
Scott Turri, Painting I and II professor, speaks about his painted piece Inside Out as a means of abstract expressionism: “My work has always been about finding a balance between the personal and cultural, as well as integrating these concerns within an art historical context. At times, the work becomes very personal, but remains grounded in abstract language.”
Kate, a Studio Arts minor at Pitt, vocalizes that she felt especially able to speak to the experience of watching a professor become something more through the experience of the exhibit. She feels that it is one thing to be trained by these individuals in the basement of Frick and "shown strategies with charcoal that will best evoke a sense of light and shadow, educated in the difference between contour drawing, line drawing, and stippling, and given advice on how I can better my final painting in regard to spatial relations" but that it is entirely another to view the work that professors themselves have crafted, to see their interpretation of the advice that they give students during the day, and to view the execution of their most pervasive artistic values.
“Reverberations” in many ways, brings the faculty to life, allowing students of any discipline to see an intimate and very personal side to their professors: one that is not typically exposed in an everyday classroom. The exhibit is open from 10am to 4pm Monday through Friday.