linkedin_writing_samples

Liz Leslie
c.elizabeth.leslie@gmail.com
Writing Samples
1. “A common thread: Spinners, weavers learn and create with guild.”
Bloomington Herald-Times, 12/26/14
2. “Lotus at 20.” Bloomington Herald-Times, 9/22/13
3. “Pygmalion’s art show celebrates Pygmalion’s fourth decade with works of
former employees.” Bloomington Herald-Times, 8/19/12
4. “’Kings’ Of The Indianapolis Brew Scene.” Indiana Public Media Earth Eats
blog. 10/13/11 http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/kings-indianapolis-
brew-scene/
5. “Exile And Emergence.” Muslim Voices blog. 09/29/10
http://muslimvoices.org/exile-emergence/

1/13/2015 A common thread: Spinners, weavers learn and create with guild - HeraldTimesOnline: Arts & Entertainment
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/entertainment/a-common-thread-spinners-weavers-learn-and-create-with-guild/article_bfab5b57-16fb-5784-a362-73a6cba1e9d2.ht… 1/4
A common thread: Spinners, weavers learn and
create with guild
By Liz Leslie Special to the HT | Posted: Sunday, January 26, 2014 1:51 am
Sitting in a circle of tables at St. Thomas Lutheran
Church’s community room, no hands are idle. More
than a dozen people are chatting, showing each other
handknit or handwoven items, as they catch up from
the previous meeting of the Bloomington Spinners and
Weavers Guild.
Guild member Ulla Linenthal holds up a hank of
taupecolored yarn she recently spun.
“I’m very happy because it’s bouncy and soft,” she
explains as other members murmur in admiration.
Weavers, spinners, crocheters, knitters and other fiber
arts enthusiasts gather together every third Monday to
share in their love of fiber arts.
The Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Guild started
in the early 1970s. Suzanne Halvorson joined about
five years later.
“When I joined in 1977, it was my social network and
so important to me that, if it was my birthday, I’d be sure to go to the guild meeting. I needed that
connection with likeminded, likeinterested people,” she said.
The guild provides opportunities for people who enjoy fiber arts, and a chance to connect and share
their love and appreciation for spinning and weaving with others. The guild sponsors workshops,
hosts study groups and holds events such as the annual Fiber Art Show and Sale in November.
Spinners create yarn from raw materials, and weavers create cloths and other fabrics on a loom.
Knitting and crocheting are other fiber arts that are common and, in the past decade, increasing with
popularity.
“I’ve seen such a resurgence with young people with knitting and crochet, which I think is fantastic,”
guild member Karin Lauderback said.
Silk scarf
This scarf by Robin Edmundson was
woven in silk thread. The warp was hand
dyed before putting it on the loom. Weft
threads are dyed in coordinating colors and
then the scarf is woven up with gold thread
dividing the color sections. Robin
Edmundson | Courtesy photo

“Most of us learned from our mothers and grandmothers, and there’s an entire generation that didn’t
learn. I’m thrilled to see younger people come in.”
Halvorson, a lecturer in addition to being a studio artist, has taught at Purdue University, Indiana
University and Earlham College. She said her fiber arts classes have been very popular.
Students are inundated with electronics and technology, she said.
“I think there’s something that’s very important about using equipment that’s 12th century
equipment,” she said.
Spinning and weaving goes handinhand with doityourself culture. The artist can create something
tangible out of raw materials, something useful or decorative. Some artisans experiment with hand
dyeing, using local materials.
Some raise sheep and alpacas for wool, and Lauderback recently attended a workshop guild where
members raised their own flax to spin into linen.
“It’s a chance to channel your creative energy and to actually get away from the computer and make
something. It’s really therapeutic. I call it ‘active meditation’ because you’re physically doing
something that’s a repetitive motion. That can be very relaxing,” Halvorson said.
Halvorson is a member of By Hand Gallery, a Bloomington cooperative fine arts gallery since 1979.
Two years ago, she had a record year, and the sales at the gallery are solid, she said.
Members of the guild echoed the popularity of handmade fiber arts, as evidenced in last fall’s Fiber
Arts Show. One member remarked she sold out.
“All our vendors are local,” Lauderback said, and the majority are guild members.
Every year, the Fiber Arts Show and Sale shares a weekend with the pottery and glass shows, but this
will be the first year all three will be under the same roof, the third weekend in November at the
Bloomington Convention Center.
“It’s a fine organization, and it’s a viable organization,” Halvorson said of the guild. “It’s really
stayed quite active through the years.”
Lauderback showcases her own handiwork with a woven scarf and earrings.
“One of my goals this year is to weave cloth to make clothing and weave curtain material,”
Lauderback said.
Halvorson starts many of her students on a scarf — a small, digestible project that results in a
wearable piece.

Halvorson designs patterns and has been published by Handwoven magazine. In addition to scarves,
she weaves liturgical textiles — fabric for worship spaces, like vestments.
“Everyone in this group does other things than just weave and spin,” guild member Sue Meissner
said. She displayed the start of a small, delicate, gold beaded purse.
The result of the previous weekend’s workshop with Indiana University costume designer Robbie
Stanton, the beaded purse is knit with fine thread and tiny needles. Stanton creates Victorianstyle
vintage bags with beads.
Meissner is studying to be a master spinner through Olds College in Alberta, Canada — a sixyear
program, and she is finishing her fifth year. She teaches spinning at Yarns Unlimited, and even got
her husband to learn to weave.
“All in my plans, see,” she laughs. “So I didn’t have to learn to weave.”
Paul McElwain writes the newsletter for the group. He also spins and knits and is learning some
weaving.
When asked how he became interested in fiber arts, he explained, “Runs in the family.”
His mother knits and his father wove a kilt — “full nine yards of tartan.”
Ulla Linenthal sits behind a large plastic box full of yarn. She clicks away at the start of a cozy brown
skirt.
She points to the knit skirt she is wearing and explains she’s replacing it with the one she’s currently
making.
A member for eight years, Linenthal sought the guild after her move from Wisconsin.
“I got in touch with Suzanne, and she was so welcoming! I loved coming to a place with a good
guild.”
Jan Greenwood is new to the community and the guild. As a weaver, she looked for a connection
when she arrived and found the guild through networking.
Monday night’s instructor is Peg Dawson, a member of the guild since 1990. She’s since moved to
Speedway, but continues to participate with the Bloomington guild.
Dawson is teaching tatting, a very old, intricate lacemaking technique.
Intermittently poking at a cone of wool is Martina Celerin. Celerin is a molecular geneticist turned
fiber artist. She turned to fiber arts 12 years ago and has “never looked back.”
Celerin is practicing needle felting, a technique where fluffy wool is shaped with a sharp needle. The

needle has barbs on the tip, catching the fibers and causing them to compress.
She explained Halvorson pushed her to join the guild “in the nicest possible way.”
“Every guild meeting I learn something,” Celerin said. “Everyone I go to I come out saying, ‘I’m so
glad I went.’”

11/3/13 Lotus at 20 - HeraldTimesOnline: Arts & Entertainment
www.heraldtimesonline.com/entertainment/lotus-at/article_f22c3a9b-77ce-599d-a622-3d2161466ed9.html?mode=print 1/4
Lotus at 20
By Liz Leslie Special to the H-T | Posted: Sunday, September 22, 2013 12:45 am
Fall means many returns for Bloomington — the return of students to school, return of football to
stadiums and the yearly return of Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.
This year’s Lotus Festival marks a milestone — 20 years.
“What’s new is also old, and that’s kind of a theme,” Lee Williams, director of Lotus World Music
and Arts Festival, said.
The term “world music” is generally “used to describe primarily nonwestern traditional, popular
and fusion genres,” according to ethnomusicology Ph.D. student Kurt Baer.
Every year the Lotus Festival brings arts and acts from all over the globe — and some right here
in Bloomington.
First-time event
One first this year includes the Indiana University Lotus campus kick-off at Alumni Hall
Thursday.
Teaming up with the School of Global and International Studies, the IU event features returning
favorites Funkadesi, debuting hip-hop artist Nomadic Massive,and IU alumni Pan-Basso.
The campus kick off is hopefully the start of a continued partnership to engage students, Williams
said.
Chicago’s Funkadesi is making its seventh appearance at Lotus. The multicultural band combines
Indian improvisation over reggae and funk beats.
“They are not the house band, but if any band could be, it would be Funkadesi,” said LuAnne
Holladay, associate director of Lotus.
Merging old and new
The theme of old and new continues with the re-emergence of the Lotus parade Saturday night.
Two parades will travel through downtown and converge on Kirkwood to become one, with one
parade starting on Fourth Street between Walnut and Washington, and the second starting on
Washington Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets.
The parades feature local musicians, the brassy Jefferson St. Parade Band and Jacobs School of

Music students Mr. Taylor & His Dirty Dixie Band. The local hula-hoop troupe Hudsucker Posse
and Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls will also be featured.
“This was all about looking back in the 20th year,” Williams said.
Community input
The Lotus backdrop for the Buskirk-Chumley stage was redesigned by hand-carving designs out
of vinyl and printing them onto canvas, similarly to how woodblock prints are created. Local
artists submitted designs, and the entire process took nine months.
Holladay said she was really excited to have a new backdrop this year.
“We wanted to do something that would reflect more community input and reflect the layers of a
community that has supported Lotus over the years,” she said.
The Buskirk-Chumley will unveil the new banner Wednesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Artist Karen Combs was commissioned to design the 20th anniversary Lotus T-shirt — and she
designed the very first Lotus T-shirt as well.
The first Lotus design will be reissued this year with a commemorative pin remixing Combs’
original design by Terry Howe.
The proceeds of the pin go to supporting free programming, and wearing the pin serves as the
entry fee for next Sunday’s World Spirit Concert, featuring a cappella quartet Barbara Furtuna
and Finnish group Kardemimmit.
Arts village
The Arts Village, between Walnut Street and Washington Street on Sixth Street Friday and
Saturday, is designed by a committee of volunteers and features arts experiences, including an
audiovisual Lotus respective, art making stations and chalk art.
The hands-on art stations are sponsored by the Indiana University Art Museum’s Friends of Art
and feature printmaking, paper-making and clay art for all ages.
The chalk art station was inspired by the now-defunct Detroit Festival of the Arts.
“It’s ephemeral, like the festival itself. It’s a metaphor for the experience,” Holladay said of the
street chalk drawings.
And the music
For the 20th anniversary, Williams said organizers wanted to get together some of the favorite
bands of the past 20 Lotus festivals.

It was hard to get some of the early, mid-90s bands, Williams said, so the festival planners
identified five bands: V sen, Red Baraat, Frigg, Funkadesi and Barbara Furtuna.
“What’s nice about the groups is that it reflects the continuum of music that includes stripped
down to big party sound. That, to me, captures the flavor of Lotus,” Holladay said.
Some other artists Williams and Holladay are excited about include Japonize Elephants, a 20-year
collective started right here in Bloomington.
Japonize Elephants is hard to pin down — described as “a wild, Appalachia-by-way-of-the-
Middle East hyper-speed gypsy caravan that’s as baffling as it is inspiring and hilarious” by
Secretly Canadian, the band will surely entertain festivalgoers.
Several Nordic acts make their way to Lotus stages this year, including Dakka Brakka from the
Ukraine. Described as “not folk music,” but a “mashup” that includes rap and African chant with
electronic and acoustic instruments, Holladay and Williams had a hard time pinning down their
distinct sound.
“I can’t think of anywhere else in this state you’d see that,” Williams said.
In the ’90s, Bloomington natives Monkey Puzzle could be seen performing pop music and
traditional African music. Monkey Puzzle’s members have all since gone on to other careers
across the United States, but are reuniting for the festival.
Indianapolis duo Lilly and Madeline make their debut at Lotus this year. The sisters have been
featured on NPR and have recorded a song with John Mellencamp.
“We do get knocked for bringing too many groups from around the world and not enough local
and regional artists,” Williams said.
While that is true, he acknowledged, this year’s Lotus brings five local and regional acts in
addition to the acts from around the world.
“I never stop booking, never stop thinking about artists — it’s what I do primarily,” Williams
said.
The experience
For those experiencing Lotus for the first time, plan ahead — and then be open to new
experiences.
Holladay said every year people call and want to see one particular artist. As part of a festival,
there is no guarantee that the ticket will ensure the festivalgoer gets to see the one artist he or she
wants.

“If you are here to see one artist, get there early enough to stand in line and stay at that venue,”
Holladay recommended.
However, being open to what the festival brings can invite new experiences.
“Change your idea of what a Lotus experience is,” Holladay said. “Be willing to go and check out
something not on your radar. See what you discover.”
The festival isn’t just about art and music — it’s an opportunity for the community to come out
and meet each other.
“It’s a much richer experience because you allow yourself to be surprised,” she said.

8/19/13 Pygmalion’s art show celebrates Pygmalion’s fourth decade with works of former employees - HeraldTimesOnline: Arts & Entertainment
www.heraldtimesonline.com/entertainment/pygmalion-s-art-show-celebrates-pygmalion-s-fourth-decade-with/article_9e55b5ad-7a4f-5b51-a3b9-59d749b1351e.h… 1/3
Pygmalion’s art show celebrates Pygmalion’s
fourth decade with works of former employees
By Liz Leslie Special to The H-T | Posted: Sunday, August 19, 2012 12:00 am
BLOOMINGTON — Pygmalion’s is ringing in its 40th birthday with four decades of artists who
have at one time or another manned the counter at the venerable art supply shop.
The Grant Street store has seen more than 90 employees over the years — many of them art
students, and many who continue to create art today.
“40 Years of Artists From Pygmalion’s Art Supplies” at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center
showcases artists, both local and nationwide, who have worked at Pygmalion’s.
Current owner of Pygmalion’s and printmaker John Wilson came up with the idea for the
exhibition.
“I thought it would be nice to have examples of all of the artists that had worked there,” he said.
Gathering employees spanning 40 years seems like a daunting task, but Wilson had a starting
point.
Jane Otten owned the store for 32 years, and had maintained connections with current artists.
Others were found through Internet searches on sites such as Facebook.
Pygmalion’s opened in 1972, and Otten purchased it in 1975.
“Most of the growth happened during Jane’s tenure,” Wilson said.
An artist herself, Otten grew the store from a small showcase with products in the back to the store
it is today. In 1980, the store expanded across the alley into two separate stores — the “graphic
annex.”
“I lost of a lot of weight running back and forth,” Otten said.
In 1992 the store moved back into a single unit, and in 2000 Otten bought the building, retaining
ownership of that while selling the business to Wilson five years ago.
Great place to work
Two of Otten’s former employees, Michael East and Marissa Huber, met while working at the
shop when they worked there from 2002 to 2004.

The two later married and are now living in Philadelphia.
“It’s very wonderful to have been an employee of Jane’s — she is an amazing woman who created
an amazing business,” Michael East said.
“So much of my knowledge of art materials comes from working there. To now be a part of a show
that is honoring the history of Pygmalion’s is truly wonderful!” he said.
Tom Zeta worked at Pygmalion’s from 1994 to 2007. He began as a clerk, then became a manager,
and eventually became part owner with Otten and her husband, Werner, in 2000.
Zeta does sculptural work using “whatever medium is called for as the inspiration strikes,” he
said.
A prominent piece of his in the exhibit — and his favorite — is a larger-than-life concrete
sculpture of his dog, Buddy. Buddy greets visitors as they walk into the downstairs gallery at the
Waldron.
Art from across country
Sculpture, paintings, prints, ceramics and collages are only a sampling of the diversity of the
exhibit — and of the diversity of the employees who participated.
“It’s interesting what’s happened to people who worked here over the years,” Wilson said.
“It speaks so highly of Bloomington, how the arts are in Bloomington, and how the arts are
supported.”
Some have gone on to become teachers or working artists, but all continue to create art in some
form.
Becky Wood was a customer before she became an employee at Pygmalion’s, “sometime around
2000,” she said. She continues to teach bookmaking workshops and helps out with the start of the
semester rush.
Wood worked in paper mache when she moved to Indiana in 1997 for a doctorate in English.
Through Pygmalion’s, Wood “dramatically expanded” her artistic horizons and connected to the
larger art community.
“Pygmalion’s is a treasure in the Bloomington community. It brings people from very different
backgrounds and perspectives together in an effort to create what is new, powerful, resonant,
vibrant, and — for many — beautiful,” she said.

More than just a job
Pygmalion’s meant more to its employees than just a place to work — and continues to resonate
with former employees.
“Being a Pyg wasn’t like being an employee,” Marissa Huber-East said. “They didn’t just hire
people. They hired artists who knew their craft, and who wanted to help others become better at
their own craft.”
“It speaks strongly about the dedication and love that has gone into this business that so many
former employees would jump at the chance to be part of it. It has been, and is, more than just a
small business,” Zeta said. “It is a labor of love, and it has touched a great number of people.”
“40 Years of Artists from Pygmalion’s” runs from Aug. 3-Sept. 1 at the Ivy Tech John Waldron
Arts Center.
If you go
“40 Years of Artists From Pygmalion’s Art Supplies”WHAT:
Show runs to Sept. 1.WHEN:
Ivy Tech John Waldron Art Center, 122 S. Walnut St. (hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.)
WHERE:

11/3/13 ‘Kings’ Of The Indianapolis Brew Scene | Earth Eats - Indiana Public Media
indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/kings-indianapolis-brew-scene/ 1/2
By LIZ LESLIE
Posted October 13, 2011
‘Kings’ Of The Indianapolis Brew Scene
Sun King Brewery is, relatively speaking, a new kid on the Indiana brewery block.
Sun King’s Vision
Formed in July 2009, Sun King Brewery has been rolling out local brews for thirsty Hoosiers in downtown Indianapolis.
Co-founders Dave Colt and Clay Robinson didn’t just wake up one day and decide to brew beer. Both had a history of brewing, and worked together
at a brew pup in Indianapolis.
A three-year conversation started between the two about what they would do if they could open their own brewery. Questions about best and worst
jobs, types of beer to brew, and discussion about corporate culture were included. Out of the conversation, the brewery was born.
“Our vision when we finally actually got around to starting Sun King was really to make great, fresh, local beer for central Indiana. Our focus was no
larger than it is right now, which is Indianapolis, Lafayette, Bloomington, Muncie,” Robinson says.
“Beer is best fresh, and it’s best closest to the source.”
Colt agrees. “Grain to glass is really what we are trying to achieve. Making the experience transfer from the brewpub out to the general public at
large.”
Going For The Gold At The Great American Beer Festival
The Great American Beer Festival took place September 29 – October 1. Sun King received eight out of 10 medals awarded to breweries in the
state of Indiana –up six medals for the brewery from 2010. Of those eight, four were gold.
So, how does it feel not only to carry the state, but receive so many honors?
“To win even a bronze, one medal, at the Great American Beer Festival, is just — it’s a fantastic honor. It’s just a really overwhelming and positive
feeling. It doesn’t make us better brewers, it doesn’t make us make better beer in any shape or form, but it is a nice recognition by a peer group that
you’re doing a pretty okay job,” Colt says.
“Just one is fantastic, at three I could hardly feel my face,” he laughs.
There were times where the awards were being called and the Sun King team was asked on stage. Before they could leave the stage, another
award was announced.
“We’re kind of that out of left field, ‘who the heck is Sun King?’ kind of thing, and all of a sudden we’re up there in front of people getting a medal, and
you’re getting another medal,” Robinson says.
The team joked about getting enough medals that each member present — six of them — could wear one.
After four medals, there was a lull in awarding. Then the accolades started up again, and the team had more medals than brewers present.
“If you could see pictures of our faces, just perma-grin from ear to ear,” Robinson says.
Brewing Beers With A Local Focus
Sun King has a collection of house beers served year-round, and rotating specialty beers. The four house beers include Sunlight cream ale, the
award-winning Wee Mac Scottish Style Brown ale, Bitter Druid ESB and Osiris Pale Ale. Robinson describes the house beers as “sessionable” but
still “flavorful.”
The specialty beers were based more on an “unspoken calender” — “When it’s 95 degrees out in July, you’re not going to roll out a Russian Imperial
Stout at 10 percent. It’s just not going to go very well,” Colt explains.
Some of the beers are focused on local ingredients, like the award-winning Popcorn Pilsner. The popcorn pilsner was born out of Colt’s imagination.

11/3/13 ‘Kings’ Of The Indianapolis Brew Scene | Earth Eats - Indiana Public Media
indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/kings-indianapolis-brew-scene/ 2/2
He took the idea of adding popcorn to beer to Robinson, who called him crazy.
“Then he explained how popping a popcorn works similar to the actual malting process, how the starches are set up for the conversion into sugar,”
Robinson describes.
“We actually got a silver with that one, which is really a proud medal because the lager category is often dominated by larger breweries who do a lot
of lagers. Not only did we win in the lager category, but we won with a beer that was made with locally grown and sourced Indiana popcorn.”
Local ingredients are central to Sun King beers. Sometimes the ingredient comes first, like popcorn, other times it’s about figuring out how to take
the beer in a different, local direction.
“We use popcorn, we use crab apples, we are making a malt liquor that is utilizing Indiana-produced masa,” Colt says.
When wanting a local tie for the malt liquor, the first place people’s minds go is corn, Colt explained. So he asked, can we do better than corn? The
result is local masa, which the Indiana agriculture department helped the brewers find local for their malt liquor.
“Dave and I were both born and raised in and around Indiana — he was born in South Bend, I am from the Indianapolis area, so we’re both Hoosier
boys, born and bred,” Robinson says.
Why The Cans?
Like many other craft breweries, Sun King’s take-home option includes growlers filled with draft beer. Unlike many other craft breweries, their beers
are sold for carry-out in cans.
“Cans are better for beer, bottom line. The two largest deteriorants for beer are sunlight and oxygen. So no matter how dark a glass is, sunlight is
still going to work its way through,” Robinson explains. Beer is best on draft or from a keg, he says, and what is a can but a tiny keg?
The cans Sun King uses come from Ball in Monticello, Indiana, causing a smaller carbon footprint. They weigh considerably less than bottles,
lightening up the shipping costs and loads.
“A can can actually make its way from a recycling bin back into a sheet of aluminum which will be extruded into another can inside of less than a
month,” Robinson says.
What About The Name ‘Sun King?’
Colt introduced the name, giving the earth’s proximity to the sun and the place of the sun in the solar system. “Sun King” also had historical
references, from the Mayan calender to popular music.
“I hated it,” Robinson says.
Colt persisted.
“He drug me over to the window, it’s like a February day, so it’s kind of gray but the sun’s peeking through, he’s like, ‘What’s that? That giant ball of
gas in the sky?’” Robinson says.
“The sun shines everywhere. It is responsible for all that give life, and makes beer.”
You can visit Sun King on the Web — but only if you’re over 21!

7/29/2014 Exile And Emergence
http://muslimvoices.org/exile-emergence/ 1/2
By LIZ LESLIE
Posted September 29, 2010
Exile And Emergence
“The funny thing is in many ways music can be used both as a tool to bring people together as well as one to drive them apart,” said David A.
McDonald. McDonald is assistant professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University.
He recently presented work on Israeli and Palestinian hip hop at the first event of the Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology Research
Colloquium Series.
“Hip hop kind of chose me.”
McDonald started his career as a jazz musician with a minor in history, concentrating in the Arab Middle East.
He said he was drawn to Middle Eastern music because like jazz, it uses improvisational techniques. He combined his love of jazz with his interest in
the Israeli/Palestinian situation and began field work exploring the intersection of music and conflict in 2002.
When the Israeli and Palestinian communities started to confront each other in the early 20th century, “music was a fundamental way in which each
community sought to deal with it,” he said.
The music “ebbs and flows” with the political and economic situation. When there is a good deal of political and economic collaboration, there tends
to be musical collaboration.
When there’s violence and anger, the musical engagement turns insular.
He uses hip hop as an example.
Early in the decade, there was more collaboration. During the talk he showed part of a documentary titled Channels of Rage.
The documentary chronicles Jewish Israeli rapper, Subliminal, and Arab Israeli rapper, Tamer Nafar (who performs with the group DAM), and their
falling out. It shows video from three years previous to when the two groups were touring and working together.
Exile and emergence are presented as a framework in which to view the “other.”
Exile
“Exile is a way of thinking about the self and identity in terms of dislocation from a specific homeland,” McDonald said.
Both groups see themselves in exile from their home.
There is a “fundamental need for identities to be actualized by connecting with the homeland,” he said.
McDonald said viewing one’s identity in this way is “dangerous” because it prevents dialogue or the “mutual recognition of the other” from
happening.
Exile showed itself in print media and a nationalistic discourse.
The groups saw each other as “us” versus “them,” “we” who are in danger, “you” who threaten us.
Examples of music that speaks to the frame of exile include Subliminal, “I Live Day To Day,” where he says (translated into English), “I carry words
on me like a weapon.”
DAM’s “Stranger In My Own Country” is rapped in both Arabic and Hebrew.
Both artists speak about national detachment and a need for recognition.
Emergence
Emergence is about the “shared human vulnerability” and opens up the opportunity to view the “other” as a person.
McDonald credits Israeli-born rapper Invincible for her work on emergence. “Emergence” was her term, he said.
In her song, “People Not Places,” she moves past the nation/state and emphases people over land. She opens the dialogue for Israelis and
Palestinians to view each other as people, not as the “other.”
Muslim Voices

7/29/2014 Exile And Emergence
http://muslimvoices.org/exile-emergence/ 2/2
The concept of emergence gives a “rhetorical space to recognize sufferings.”
Invincible focuses on the need for Israelis need to see themselves in how they treat others.
“That’s a profound statement, if you think about it,” McDonald said.
If we conceptualize our own identities, who we are, not by what’s been done to us, but by what we’ve done to others, that completely
changes the game. And it’s a beautiful way of moving past a lot of the problems we find in the Middle East. If each side can figure out a
way to define themselves based on how they’ve treated the other, then you have a basis for mutual recognition. Then you have a basis for
shared responsibility for dialogue.
See Invisible’s “People Not Places” video below:
David A. McDonald has a forthcoming book from Duke University Press titled My Voice is My Weapon: Music, Nationalism, and the Poetics of
Palestinian Resistance.

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