Carryon Homes

09/04/2021

working so hard installing the big vinyl title wall! Home of Memories travelled from Rochester Art Center, BLAC art center, arriving Hennepin History Museum! Opening reception event 2-4pm Sep 18th! Iraqi traditional tea, sweets, Arabic calligraphy workshop! Don't miss it!

05/19/2021

“The family was keen to plant a love for Iraq in my heart, despite my being away from it as a child. I left Iraq when I was four years old. My memories are based on the conversations and stories I hear from family and friends...Sometimes I go out into the street in the afternoon hours and smell a scent in the air that reminds me of the smells in the air of a child in Iraq. The smell of cooking, fruits and markets... The stories that I heard all became true in my eyes when I visited Iraq; places, neighborhoods, people and sounds.”
Eynas Alnabi, AlNasriyah - New Brighton
Photography by Jaafar Alnabi, 2020


"Home of Memories" is an exhibition presented in partnership with the and curated by ( )

05/18/2021

We team have been working with across three continents ( in Turkey, Shun Jie Yong and in the U.S. and in China) on curating the tour exhibition Home of Memories exhibition! It's so exciting to introduce the exhibition to the public - the first stop at

repost
“I do miss it there...There is not a big Kurdish community here in Minnesota. But at the end of day more of my friends are here, my family is here, my life is here. In a way, I do miss it there, but I think at the end of the day my heart lies here in Minnesota.”
Hazha Las, Erbil - Woodbury
Photography by Jaafar Alnabi, 2020


"Home of Memories" is an exhibition presented in partnership with the and curated by ( )

03/12/2021

Exciting news! Home of Memories is travelling to the Rochester Art Center this spring and summer! We are excited to connect with the Iraqi-American community in Rochester and in south east MN. The exhibition open on May 19th and runs to August 29th.Stay tuned for more info and programming.

Iraqi & American Reconciliation Projectمشروع مصالحة الشعب العراقي والأمريكي Jaafar Alnabi

Left: Ahmed Alshaikhli, Dhafer Abdulla, Baghdad – C**n Rapids, 2020, Digital Print, 24”x 30” Right: Jaafar Alnabi, Eynas Alnabi, AlNasriyah – New Brighton, 2020, Digital Print, 24”x30” Design by Peng Wu

10/07/2020

We are so excited to invite you to join us for the opening reception on October 10th 1-4pm with live music and food at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts!
CarryOn Homes has been working with Iraqi and America Reconciliation Project to curate the exhibition Home of Memories وطن الذكريات

Home of Memories, وطن الذكريات explores homemaking and memories in the portraits of Iraqi Minnesotans by Iraqi Minnesotan photographers Ahmed Alshaikhli and Jaafar Alnabi. Curated by the CarryOn Homes collective and produced as part of Iraqi Voices, a collaborative arts storytelling lab run by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. 

This year’s lab invited participants and photographers to look both inward and onwards as they explored home. These portraits and stories give us a complex and intimate portrayal of what home was, is, and what it can be. Our thanks to Lafta Abduljabbar Jassim, Rasol Albayati, Eynas Alnabi, Zena Khalil, Ronak Ali, Dhafer Abdulla, Abir Majid, and Hazha Las for coming together to compose a beautiful and intricate tapestry of home. We invite you to reflect on the theme of home with us by bringing a photograph to be collectively displayed on a journey wall along with a shared memory.

09/30/2020

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NE Central and NE Lowry Bus stop

Today we installed Mohamed Barre’s photos at the Northeast site today. This is the last install for the site, so come by and see it before Oct 3! Thanks &

A Reflection of Somali Americans in MN
Mohamed Barre

The subjects of two photos displayed in this exhibition are Barre’s daughters: Ilhan & Ilham. The juxtaposition of the two images illustrate the duality of cultures and the complexity that Somali children raised in the United States are born into.

NE Minneapolis based photographer Mohamed Barre came to the United States as a refugee in 1995. He lived in Virginia then moved to Minnesota in 1998. He met his wife, Naema Ali, also a Somali refugee, when they were both in college at St. Mary’s University in Minneapolis. Their six kids, ages 9 to 13, were all born in Minnesota.

Years ago, Barre began snapping pictures of Somali life in Minnesota just so his kids could see what it was like for the first refugees. But as he photographed everything from mosques to halal markets, Barre found he’d built a rich archive of Somali-American life for everyone. What began as an amateur photographer’s tinkering grew into art.

WE ARE HERE! ¡ESTAMOS AQUI! WAN JOGNA!

JOIN US FOR ARTMAKING ABOUT IMMIGRATION & CENSUS 2020!

The 2020 Census will allocate a massive amount of funding and resources to the Northeast Minneapolis community - it is crucial that everyone is represented. The Carry On Homes team and NE Artist Witt Siasoco have created an art installation and a series of artmaking drop-in activities at the corner of Lowry and Central Ave to highlight the importance of immigrant communities' participation in the Census. Participants can create a flag that will be added to a community art installation.

COVID safe distancing applies and masks provided.

Tues, Sept 15, 4–6pm
Sat, Sept 19, 10am–1pm
Tues, Sept 22, 4–6pm
Sat, Sept 26, 10am–1pm
Tues, Sept 29, 4–6pm
Sat, Oct 3, 10am–1pm

This project is made possible by Census 2020, Hennepin County (Office of Comm. Irene Fernando), the Windom Park Citizens in Action, Community Response Fund from the City of Minneapolis' Off

09/30/2020

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SignMinds Inc.

Saturday night I found ’s photo torn down in a crumpled pile. Needless to say I was bummed. Today, thanks to ._janssens El Comandante is back on Central Ave.

09/26/2020

Backstage of art making! 🥳


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Minneapolis, Minnesota

“That’s not garbage, it’s our art”. We officially Said goodbye to our installation at today by ceremonially placing pillows in vacuum seal bags and dividing up the furniture. Thank you to everyone that made that show possible. Too many to name here. But I gotta put a special shout out to (Anthony Clementi) this show absolutely wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thank you. Thank s thank you krista and Gabe.

09/25/2020

CarryOn Homes has been working with Iraqi and America Reconciliation Project to curate the exhibition Home of Memories وطن الذكريات
We are so excited to invite you to join us for the opening reception on October 4th 1-4pm with live music and food at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts!

Home of Memories, وطن الذكريات explores homemaking and memories in the portraits of Iraqi Minnesotans by Iraqi Minnesotan photographers Ahmed Alshaikhli and Jaafar Alnabi. Curated by the CarryOn Homes collective and produced as part of Iraqi Voices, a collaborative arts storytelling lab run by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. 

This year’s lab invited participants and photographers to look both inward and onwards as they explored home. These portraits and stories give us a complex and intimate portrayal of what home was, is, and what it can be. Our thanks to Lafta Abduljabbar Jassim, Rasol Albayati, Eynas Alnabi, Zena Khalil, Ronak Ali, Dhafer Abdulla, Abir Majid, and Hazha Las for coming together to compose a beautiful and intricate tapestry of home. We invite you to reflect on the theme of home with us by bringing a photograph to be collectively displayed on a journey wall along with a shared memory.

09/21/2020

Curated by Carryon Homes , produced by Iraqi & American Reconciliation Projectمشروع مصالحة الشعب العراقي والأمريكي, Home of Memories features stories of Iraqi in MN and pictures by Ahmed Alshaikli and Jaafar Alnabi . Show is open October 10th to December 12th, 2020 at the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, Friedly, MN - stay tuned for more info about the opening reception!

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Home of Memories, وطن الذكريات explores homemaking and memories in the portraits of Iraqi Minnesotans by Iraqi Minnesotan photographers Ahmed Alshaikhli and Jaafar Alnabi. Curated by the CarryOn Homes collective and produced as part of Iraqi Voices, a collaborative arts storytelling lab run by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. This year’s lab invited participants and photographers to look both inward and onwards as they explored home. These portraits and stories give us a complex and intimate portrayal of what home is, of what home was, is, and what it can be. Our thanks to Lafta Abduljabbar Jassim, Rasol Albayati, Eynas Alnabi, Zena Khalil, Ronak Ahamed Ali, Dhafer Al- Khatib, Abir Majid, and Hazha Las for coming together to compose a beautiful and intricate tapestry of home. We invite visitors to reflect on the theme of home by bringing a photograph to be collectively displayed on a journey wall along with a shared memory.

The Iraqi Voices Lab 2020 is made possible in part by the Marbrook Foundation, and the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Iraqi Voices is a collaborative arts storytelling lab that pairs Iraqi-Minnesotans with professional artists to share their stories through an artistic platform. Since its start in 2012, the lab has produced 9 books, 15 award winning short documentary films and the groundbreaking theater production Birds Sing Differently Here premiering at the Guthrie Theater.

THE IRAQI AND AMERICAN RECONCILIATION PROJECT is a nonprofit founded in 2007 to foster conversations, learning and compassionate action. In response to decades of sanctions, war, and occupation we engage Iraqis and Americans in the arts, personal and professional exchanges, and humanitarian invitations in an effort to promote cultural understanding and reconciliation. To learn more visit reconciliationproject.org.

08/30/2020

💜💙💚💛 with 2020 Census project at NE Minneapolis!! Come check it out!


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Today we installed a photo by Xavier Tavera () at the Carry On Homes Northeast site. Xavier’s work speaks about immigration and immigrant stereotypes. We are honored to have his work exhibited in this installation. In the coming week we will be installing another series of artworks by NE artist Kao Lee Thao. Come to the site and check it out!

Our goal is to highlight the importance of immigrants and people of color being counted in the Census. These groups historically have been underrepresented. This undercounting misallocates funding and resources that could go to our neighborhoods.


About Xavier’s photo contribution to Carry On Homes Northeast -

El Comandante

The image of a Mexican or Latinx immigrant has been stereotyped for decades.
I am interested in the those who resist the conventional; the ones that have managed to retain their specific cultural philosophy through their lives. and have not been altered since they have migrated to the United States. These personas defy the norm and retain the status of subculture within the margins of the immigrant culture. El Comandante, is well known as a member of the older generation of punk-metal culture and is also known in the arts Latinx community. Story teller, keeper of culture and nostalgia, customs, traditions and heritage, a source of invaluable information. His 19-year-old vest is witness and bearer of struggle, endurance, music and beer.