J Taylor Basker presents the work of Jordanian artist, Ihsan Bandak, in a talk entitled
Displaced: The Lost and Forgotten
Westbeth Community Room
Tuesday Oct 10 at 7PM

Detail of painting

Detail from one of Bandak’s paintings

Westbeth Community Room
Tuesday October 10
7PM – 8:30PM

Ihsan Bandak‘s artwork on today’s ongoing refugee crisis reflects the suffering and experiences of people forced to leave their homes, countries and identities. They are poetic, powerful descriptions of their displacement.

Dr. Jacqueline Casale Taylor Basker
Visiting Adjunct Professor
German-Jordan University, Amman, Jordan (Summer ’14,’15, ’16) Islamic Architecture, Heritage & Conservation)
New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, New York
President, ArtsPR-International
Former Chair, Fine Arts/Computer Graphics Dept.
New York Institute of Technology, Amman, Jordan

J Taylor Basker’s solo exhibit at Bandak Gallery in Amman, Jordan entitled “Endangered: Land, People, Heritage” at Bandak Gallery Sept. 21-25. Show has been extended to October 12 due to favorable reviews.

This exhibit deals with the current crisis facing Jordan and the region. Dr. Jacqueline Taylor Basker has been living and working in Jordan for ten years, travelling back and forth from Westbeth to Jordan. Initially a professor at NYIT and chair of the Dept. of Fine Arts and Computer Graphics, she began teaching at German-Jordan University in their School of Built Environment and Architecture after NYIT left Jordan in 2013.

Her paintings address what she learned and experienced in Jordan. Dr. Jacqui, as she called by her students, was dedicated to documenting the struggle of the Palestinians, the horrors of the Gaza wars, and the tragedy of the Mavi Marmara Flotilla. The Ambassador of Turkey expressed the gratitude of the Turkish people for her artwork documenting the ten victims who died on the Mavi Marmara when he visited the exhibit. She rode a peace bus to Gaza during the 2014 war organized by “Breaking the Silence” – former IDF soldiers opposed to the Gaza wars, travelling with the noted Sheik of Peace, Ibraham al Halwa. She has painted many artworks about Gaza.

She spent much time exploring Jordan, climbing through ruins and monuments and observed the potential loss of heritage due to neglect, vandalism, or lack of funds to preserve sites. She has painted ruins from desert castles to dolmens. One painting was exhibited at the World Archaeological Congress at the Dead Sea that illustrated the top ten endangered archaeological sites in Jordan; this painting was purchased by the office of the Mayor of Amman.

Ecological dangers also threaten Jordan, especially with the refugee crisis, that strain vital resources as water, as more and more people “walk through Jordan,” another theme of a large painting in the exhibit.

Dr. Jacqui has professional knowledge (having taught Heritage and Conservation at GJU), passion for preservation and love for Jordan that motivates both her research and artwork.

The exhibit at Bandak Gallery, opened 7 PM, runs 21 September through 25 September.

The content of the publicity for the exhibit was banned by the US media company, MailChimp that is designed to help send mass emails for publicity, due to “its objectionable content” and “Acceptable Use Violation.” My account was disabled! After complaints from me and from several members of the royal family, it has now been restored!