The Arts Council of Princeton Announces Ann Reeves Artist-in-Residence, Faraz Khan

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) announces Faraz Khan as the Ann Reeves Artist-in-Residence. Kahn’s residency began in April with an interactive public project during Communiversity ArtsFest and continues through October 2015. His next event, on Thursday, May 21 at 7pm, will be a discussion of The Canticle of the Birds, an illustrated manuscript of a Sufi text in which all the worlds’ birds have transcended from human souls and will include Michael Barry, Lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University. Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ. This event is free and open to the public. For a complete list of Faraz Khan’s events, please visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777. Parking is available in the Spring and Hulfish Street Garages and at metered parking spots along Witherspoon Street and Paul Robeson Place.

Faraz Khan, an artist of Pakistani heritage, seeks to synthesize feelings and pictograms through Arabic lettering. In his words, “I express my intellectual longing for creative ideas through Islamic art by fusing colors, lines, dots, and words together to inspire a meaning worth imagining…I construct new modes of expression based on Arabic writing to first envision and then create a style that is exclusively modern Western, including graffiti elements. My work incorporates ink and acrylics on paper or canvas with vibrant nontraditional colors and calligraphy styles.” Through his work with ACP, he will explore universal values of love, life, faith, prayer, beauty and the divine. In a world filled with mistrust and hatred, through Faraz Khan’s residency, the ACP hopes to promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

On Friday, June 26 from 1-8pm, Read and be Read, co-sponsored by the Princeton Public Library, will take place in the library front lobby. Faraz will paint a bookcase on the spine of books with acrylic and ink resulting in a unique work of art with Arabic calligraphy. He will discuss the work and answer questions while painting, which will take a full-day to complete. Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ. This event is free and open to the public.

Additional events to include: Arabic Calligraphy Workshops, Saturday, July 11 from 1-3pm, at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts. Calligraphy Workshop, Thursday, August 20 at 5:30pm, Princeton Shopping Center. Light Art Calligraphy Performance, Thursday, September 10, (Time: TBD) on the Princeton Art Museum Lawn and The Making of an American Script by Faraz Khan, October 1-31, a culmination of his residency on view in the Taplin Gallery at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts.

The Arts Council of Princeton established the Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Program in order to annually provide select artists with opportunities to conceptualize new works while providing the community with opportunities for creative interaction with artists in all disciplines.

The Arts Council of Princeton, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organization with a mission of Building Community through the Arts. Housed in the landmark Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, designed by architect Michael Graves, the ACP fulfills its mission by presenting a wide range of programs including exhibitions, performances, free community cultural events, and studio-based classes and workshops in a wide range of media. Arts Council of Princeton programs are designed to be high-quality, engaging, affordable and accessible for the diverse population of the greater Princeton region.