Three highlights of this weekend’s Twin Cities art scene: A lecture and film screening at the University of Minnesota will examine how Gazan filmmakers have portrayed life under Israeli occupation. The Twin Cities Book Festival returns with more than 140 exhibitors, featuring Minnesota authors, some of whose topics range from African womanhood to the Indigenous Rarámuri peoples’ resistance. And North Hennepin Community College will showcase the works of a Black queer Minneapolis artist who has explored themes of love, death and West African culture.

‘Gaza on Screen’ at University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, in collaboration with Mizna, will host the Matar Family Lecture, “Gaza on Screen in Times of Genocide,” which will focus on how Gazan filmmakers have represented Gaza.

With the Israel-Hamas war killing more than 40,000 people in Gaza and displacing hundreds of thousands since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, guest lecturer and author Nadia Yaqub will address the surge of violent imagery that has circulated in media channels. 

In her 2023 book “Gaza on Screen,” inspired by a film festival she curated in 2018, Yaqub, along with collaborators, investigated how various media outlets—Palestinian, Lebanese and Israeli—have depicted Gaza. 

Yaqub’s research indicates that while more Palestinian filmmakers are sharing their stories, fundamental approaches to Gaza’s representation have persisted. “The Gaza Strip was born out of the 1948 war and it has always carried the reputation of being overcrowded, an open-air prison and one of the most densely populated places on Earth,” she said.

The event will showcase two films that explore Palestinian life under siege. “Vibrations From Gaza,” directed by Palestinian-Canadian filmmaker Rehab Nazzal, focuses on deaf children living in the confines of Gaza. The film uses sound—or the absence of it—to create a vibrational soundscape that reflects their daily experience. “There’s a lot of sign language and subtitles, but no speech or music,” Yaqub said. “The children talk about the effect of sound, like bombings, on their bodies.” 

“Offing,” directed by Oraib Toukan, challenges traditional visual representations of Palestinian suffering by presenting an eclectic mix of images taken outside of Gaza, alongside music and a voiceover from a Gaza-based artist recounting his experience during the 2021 Israel-Hamas conflict. 

“There’s a lot of criticism of the humanitarian image because they emphasize the difference between someone who is the victim of violence and the distant spectators, you and I, who are relatively comfortable and safe, looking at these images,” Yaqub said. “They don’t represent Palestinian people as full human beings. They only emphasize their need and dispossession. So I’m investigating the efficacies of circulating these kinds of images and how we should treat them, as distant spectators.”

Yaqub reflected on the uncertain future of Palestinian filmmaking: “We’re at such a crossroads in terms of what the future of Palestine is going to be,” she said. “Is it going to just continue until every single Palestinian is dead or kicked out, or will it be a different, better outcome?”

From poetry to prose: Twin Cities Book Festival spotlights Minnesota authors

The annual Twin Cities Book Festival returns to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on Saturday, featuring local and national authors, publishers, literary organizations and more than 140 exhibitors.

Minnesota writers will take center stage, presenting their latest works, including Taiyon Coleman’s new collection of personal essays, “Traveling Without Moving: Essays From a Black Woman Trying to Survive in America”; Victoria Blanco’s “Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance”; Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s “Obligations to the Wounded,” exploring Zambian womanhood, and Minneapolis poet Preeti Kaur Rajapl’s collection “membery,” which reflects on her grandparents’ displacement from India. 

The festival will host designated stages for youth and comics. The Picture Book Showcase and Young Adult Showcase will feature authors such as Shannon Gibney, Kao Kalia Yang and Anton Treuer, highlighting diverse voices in children’s and young adult literature. 

Interactive activities will allow young participants to create jellyfish hand puppets and solve tangram puzzles. Another event will encourage children to write “commitment to vote” statements and to envision their election speeches with Artika Tyner, author of the children’s book “Kwame Votes.” 

Larger-than-life paintings explore Black love, death and culture

The Joseph Gazzuolo Art Gallery at North Hennepin Community College is hosting the “Nana Aforo: Selected Paintings” exhibit, showcasing a collection of large-scale works by Nana Aforo, a Black queer artist based in Minneapolis.

Aforo, who began his studies at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and later earned a master’s degree in fine arts from Mills College in Oakland, California, blends photo-realism and impressionism in his oil paintings. His pieces explore themes of nature, love, death, West African matriarchal culture and Buddhist spiritual traditions. 

Aforo also produces music under the name Lines of Hour. His latest album, “The Divine Spark,” released in 2023, reflects the fictional character Alphonso Mango’s journey to break free from societal pressures.

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