Two of the things I like about the street where I live are its cosmopolitan nature and its diverse range of talents. My neighbours do all sorts of things: play the organ, sing, make curtains, paint, fire ceramics, practise reflexology, speak and teach various different languages, fix computers … not forgetting their wonderful gardens – I would know, as I deliver leaflets to them!

One such talented person is my next-door-neighbour the artist Issam Kourbaj, whose talents are recognized by no less an institution than Christ’s College, where he is Artist-in-Residence … that’s when he’s not residing in our street, that is. Issam is launching an exhibition to showcase his latest project, ‘Excavating the Present‘.

The exhibition is a tribute to Syrian mothers and ‘dwells on the fragility of life and offers hope that a bigger and better world may one day come to be’. All proceeds go to Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal. Exhibition Details: 22 March – 7 April 2013, 11 am – 6 pm 6 / 16 Gallery, King Street, Cambridge.

   Leave a comment