Mohamed Sleiman Labat, a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and writer who was born and is based in the Sahrawi refugee camps in southwest Algeria, will participate in a series of public events at Penn State and in the local community throughout the month of April. His visit is supported in part by the Penn State School of Visual Arts' John M. Anderson Endowment in the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of Arts and Architecture Sustainability Council, Penn State Sustainability, and ArtsAction Group (AAG), an international artist collective.
Labat is the founder and director of the community art space Motif Art Studio, a creative hub for art and education constructed entirely from discarded materials in the Samara Refugee Camp. His art draws upon the past and present life of the Sahrawi people, exploring the multifaceted and entangled political, environmental and social issues that affect his local community in the hamada desert and the world at large through film, writing and community-based art. Labat has received numerous awards, including the 2024 S+T+ARTS Prize Africa (European Union Award of Distinction) and the 2024 Prince Claus Fund Mentorship Award for Cultural and Artistic Responses to the Environmental Crisis. His work has been exhibited in Algeria, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Learn more about Labat here.
Part of Labat's visit involves a collaboration with Penn State art education faculty member Ann Holt, also an AAG teaching artist and adviser, to create a community art tent. The tent is a symbol of communal bonds and shared nomadic identity for the Sahrawi. The community art tent will be constructed in the Immersive Environments Lab, located in the Stuckeman Family Building, on April 22, and will be open as an exhibition through April 25.
In addition, Labat will participate in the following public events:
College of Arts and Architecture Sustainability Teaching Roundtable - A Sister Garden Exchange: Living Arts and Pedagogy
Wednesday, April 16, noon-1:30 p.m.
Borland Project Space (125 Borland)
Presenters: Mohamed Sleiman Labat and Ann Holt
Caretelling Workshop
Friday, April 18, 1-4 p.m.
HUB-Robeson Art Alley
Presented in collaboration with Penn State Student Farm, as part of "Capacities of Care" exhibition at HUB-Robeson Galleries
Community Art Tent Installation and Exhibition
April 22-25
Immersive Environments Lab, Stuckeman Family Building
Tuesday, April 22, 1:3-5 p.m.: Volunteers invited to participate in tent installation
Tuesday, April 22, 5-7 p.m.: Exhibition opening with Labat in attendance
April 23-24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Exhibition open to the public
April 25, 10 a.m.-noon: Tea ceremony at tent, followed by tent disassembly and participatory performative walk to Earth Day celebration at Ross Student Farm at Penn State
Penn State Sustainability Summit
Wednesday, April 23
Various in-person locations and online
Featuring screening of "Desert PHOSfate" and talk with Labat, the film's director/subject
7-8:30 p.m., HUB-Robeson Center Flex Auditorium
Earth Day on the Farm
Friday, April 25
Ross Student Farm at Penn State
Labat will be at the community tent, 4-7 p.m.
