It's Not Appropriation When It's Your Culture: Zahra Almajidi

In the 79th episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown takes listeners to the Penland School of Craft, where she’s participating in their Winter Residency. During the two-week residency, Sarah never missed an opportunity to enjoy a meal in the dining hall. The Pines, the Penland dining hall, has large, round tables perfect for gathering and enabling conversations over meals. Each meal is an opportunity to sit next to a stranger and potentially meet a new friend - or podcast guest.

After enjoying a few meals and conversations, Sarah asked Zahra Almajidi if she would be willing to come on the podcast. The two metalsmiths sat down to discuss Zahra’s upbringing and why her family immigrated to the United States, the benefits of living with your parents while going to college, and if it’s possible to appropriate a culture that is your own while living in the diaspora.

Speaking of Penland….

Western North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene. This area is home to the Penland School of Craft and many artists and craftspersons. If you are able, please consider donating to one of the following organizations or platforms providing aid and relief in the area.

TREATS STUDIOS: This network aims to connect affected artists and arts organizations with individuals who want to support them.

Beloved Asheville: Backed by your support, BeLoved Asheville is dedicating every resource to those most affected by this disaster. Our immediate focus has been on critical necessities like food, water, and healthcare for survival and stability. As winter looms, we are securing warm and safe housing for the displaced. Looking further ahead, recovery from the vast destruction will be a large-scale investment over several years. We believe that we can unite to rebuild a community that embodies home, health, equity, and opportunity for all. 

OUR GUEST

Zahra Almajidi is a visual artist and metalsmith raised and based in Detroit, MI. Utilizing both traditional metalsmithing techniques and CAD/CAM processes, her work explores the ways in which objects and adornment allow displaced people to continue to uphold and practice their craft traditions while living in the diaspora.

She has worked at several art fabrication spaces in Metro Detroit including Wayne State University where she received her BFA in Metalsmithing, Lawrence Technological University where she briefly served as shop co-manager, and Cranbrook Academy of Art where she received her MFA in Metalsmithing and was awarded the Cranbrook Art Director’s fellowship and the Director’s Award.

She has taken part in the 2021 Incubator Residency program at Talking Dolls Detroit, the Artist + Residents Program at the Arab American National Museum in 2021, and the Winter Residency program at Penland School of Craft in 2024. She’s also dedicated to maintaining an active studio practice, and regularly exhibits work. She is currently the Central Materials Lab Coordinator at Cranbrook Academy of Art as well as anadjunct instructor at Wayne State University.

Follow: @z.alm.a

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The music you hear on Perceived Value is by the Seattle group Song Sparrow Research.

All You Need to Know off of their album Sympathetic Buzz.

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