Katherine Toukhy
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words.JPG

The Khayamiyya Monument

The Khayamiyya Monument
participatory sculpture
(2016-18)

The Khayamiyya Monument is an anti-war participatory sculpture inscribed with writings of Arab and African female im/migrants and female U.S. veterans critical of their time in combat during the Wars on Terror.

Over many months, I worked with the ESL program in a Brooklyn community center to collect writings about exile from Yemeni, Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, and Moroccan students. I would introduce a line of poetry about displacement from a feminine perspective for us to interpret together in Arabic. The women were asked to freely respond, in writing, from their personal experiences. U.S. female veterans from Iraq Veterans Against the War then responded to some of the im/migrant women’s writings, remotely. I traced excerpts of all these writings onto canvas to create a severed tent, in both Arabic and English.

The ESL center and I collaborated to hold a women-only open mic to present the piece. Over 100 women attended this event and read heartfelt stories of war, exile, and resilience, with the monument as a backdrop. 

The Khayamiyya Monument, 2017, Canvas, charcoal, acrylic, wood, paint, string, organza, collected personal writings by female im/migrants and U.S. veterans, community workshops, community open mics, 7 ft tall x 6.5 ft wide x 4.5 ft deep

The Khayamiyya Monument, 2017, Canvas, charcoal, acrylic, wood, paint, string, organza, collected personal writings by female im/migrants and U.S. veterans, community workshops, community open mics, 7 ft tall x 6.5 ft wide x 4.5 ft deep
Photo credit: Jennifer Coard

Installation shot, 2017. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard

Installation shot, 2017. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard

Contribution by Dunya Mikhail, Iraqi poet

Contribution by Dunya Mikhail, Iraqi poet

I traced the women’s collected writings in Arabic and English onto fabric. This physical engagement with their language helped me to process and connect with the content.

I traced the women’s collected writings in Arabic and English onto fabric. This physical engagement with their language helped me to process and connect with the content.

Detail of veteran’s writing. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard

Detail of veteran’s writing. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard

I install the monument at the community center for our opening, 2017 Photo credit: Claudia Zamora

I install the monument at the community center for our opening, 2017
Photo credit: Claudia Zamora

Writing by Nicole Goodwin, a Brooklyn poet who fought on the ground in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.

Writing by Nicole Goodwin, a Brooklyn poet who fought on the ground in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.

Friends gather at the community center launch of the monument, 2017 photo credit: Claudia Zamora

Friends gather at the community center launch of the monument, 2017
photo credit: Claudia Zamora

by Sofos, a Yemeni woman I worked with in Brooklyn. Translation (by Emma Ali): Those who live war through the news and TV are not like those who live it while it’s happening, with the fear of its sound and the humiliation.

by Sofos, a Yemeni woman I worked with in Brooklyn. Translation (by Emma Ali): Those who live war through the news and TV are not like those who live it while it’s happening, with the fear of its sound and the humiliation.

Excerpt of a poem by Mirna Haidar, a Lebanese woman (from South Lebanon) who worked with me in Brooklyn. Translation by the author: There you are… familiar to my journey…/ An entrance (home entrance) to exile…/ Where people are bare…/ There you are

Excerpt of a poem by Mirna Haidar, a Lebanese woman (from South Lebanon) who worked with me in Brooklyn. Translation by the author: There you are… familiar to my journey…/ An entrance (home entrance) to exile…/ Where people are bare…/ There you are… painful…/ A stabbing longing (for home)…/ A touch of fire… (the burn of homesickness)/ It is you…/ My exile…

by Leyya Tawil, a Palestinian American dancer, who offered this writing at a workshop in Detroit.

by Leyya Tawil, a Palestinian American dancer, who offered this writing at a workshop in Detroit.

Excerpt of a poem by Angie Hanes, a U.S. veteran who fought in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.

Excerpt of a poem by Angie Hanes, a U.S. veteran who fought in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.

Workshop photo of woman at the community center, creating a drawn and written response

Workshop photo of woman at the community center, creating a drawn and written response

Paying attention to all my senses responding to our collaborative open mic event, I didn’t write this reflection until 2022.

Paying attention to all my senses responding to our collaborative open mic event, I didn’t write this reflection until 2022.

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The Khayamiyya Monument
Installation shot, 2017. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard
Contribution by Dunya Mikhail, Iraqi poet
I traced the women’s collected writings in Arabic and English onto fabric. This physical engagement with their language helped me to process and connect with the content.
Detail of veteran’s writing. Photo credit: Jennifer Coard
I install the monument at the community center for our opening, 2017 Photo credit: Claudia Zamora
Writing by Nicole Goodwin, a Brooklyn poet who fought on the ground in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.
Friends gather at the community center launch of the monument, 2017 photo credit: Claudia Zamora
by Sofos, a Yemeni woman I worked with in Brooklyn. Translation (by Emma Ali): Those who live war through the news and TV are not like those who live it while it’s happening, with the fear of its sound and the humiliation.
Excerpt of a poem by Mirna Haidar, a Lebanese woman (from South Lebanon) who worked with me in Brooklyn. Translation by the author: There you are… familiar to my journey…/ An entrance (home entrance) to exile…/ Where people are bare…/ There you are
by Leyya Tawil, a Palestinian American dancer, who offered this writing at a workshop in Detroit.
Excerpt of a poem by Angie Hanes, a U.S. veteran who fought in Iraq. She offered this poem for The Khayamiyya Monument.
Workshop photo of woman at the community center, creating a drawn and written response
Paying attention to all my senses responding to our collaborative open mic event, I didn’t write this reflection until 2022.