MILWAUKEE — Community-based artist Muneer Bahauddeen unveiled his latest Peace Post Thursday night at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
“Each post contains several vision statements or prayers,” he explained, “which we are hoping spreads out through the community.”
The post is part of a larger installation at MIAD called Growing Resistance, which is meant to help share the stories of people on Milwaukee’s northside that exhibit curators said often go untold.
On top of traditional art, the exhibit highlights the oral histories of everyday community leaders working to make a difference.
It’s a collection of stories exhibit curator and UW-Milwaukee History and Urban Studies professor Arijit Sen said was ten years in the making.
He said for him and his students who collected the stories, the most important part was building trust.
“The stories that we are going to tell are not the traditional stories you hear of the northside. It’s not the story of crime,” Sen said. “It’s not the story of poverty. It’s not the story of bad schools, although those are all true. These are stories of how people survived despite that and against that.”
Once the exhibit ends the Peace Post, a collaboration between Bahhauddeen and True Skool students, will be installed at a community space in Milwaukee.
“It is still very therapeutic and our community needs that healing now, as do all communities,” Bahaudeen said.
Growing Resistance will remain at MIAD through March 2nd. UW-Milwaukee students will host guided tours every Friday at 11:15 a.m. until then.
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