Join us for an afternoon of Iraqi sweets, tea, calligraphy, and more as we celebrate the opening of HOME OF MEMORIES: Portraits & Stories of Iraqi Minnesotans at the Hennepin History Museum. Explore the exhibit on a guided tour with storyteller Eynas Alnabi and curator Peng Wu. Sample Iraqi black tea and homemade baklava, a dessert made with filo pastry, chopped nuts, and syrup. Guests can also try their hands at Arabic calligraphy – paper, ink, and a traditional writing instrument will be provided – or have their names written in Arabic. All are welcome as we honor the culture and stories of the Iraqi community here in Minnesota.

Guided Tours: 2:30pm and 3:30pm

Admission: Free, Pay what you can

Bios:

Eynas Alnabi was born in Iraq and left at age 4 due to war sanctions. After living in a refugee camp, she came to the U.S. in 1996 and has lived in Minnesota ever since, graduating from St. Catherine University with a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management. She is currently working at Methodist hospital as a hospital operations supervisor and plans to go back to school for her masters degree in the fall of 2022. Eynas is a mother of two.

Born and raised in China, Peng Wu is an interdisciplinary artist and designer dedicated to creating socially engaged art in public space. His work combines the power of design thinking with contemporary art strategies to address various urgent social issues including immigration, health disparity, queer rights etc. Through collaborating across disciplines and cultures, he has created participatory art installations exhibited in art institutions such as Weisman Art Museum, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, as well as numerous public spaces and community centers both in the U.S. and China. He is also an independent curator working with international cultural organizations on various exhibitions. Recent projects include the tour exhibition Home of Memories by Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project; Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale at Fengxian Museum etc. He is also an educator currently working as a full-time professor at St Cloud State University in the U.S.