Danah

Stateless

Danah is Bedoon, a term meaning “without nationality” in Arabic. Raised in Brooklyn she has faced numerous violations of her human rights, including being detained by the US government during her adolescence. Alongside her ongoing struggle with statelessness, Danah is obligated to annually report to an immigration official. Her ancestral roots can be traced back to Kuwait, where the Bedoon people were reclassified from "legal residents" to "illegal residents" under the Kuwait Nationality Law in 1985. This reclassification has resulted in the loss of their citizenship privileges, including access to healthcare, as well as the denial of essential documents such as birth certificates, death certificates, identity cards, marriage certificates, and driver's licenses. Additionally, the Bedoon community faces employment and travel restrictions.

In this painting, Danah is depicted wearing a blue satin wrap over a beaded long-sleeved dress. This wrap serves to highlight her traditional henna- adorned hand that encompasses her Kuwaiti heritage. Having grown up in Brooklyn, the portrayal of the Brooklyn Bridge connects Danah to her Kuwaiti roots. The skylines of New York City and Kuwait are artfully blended in the background. Additionally, yellow forsythia flowers, which are the official flower of Brooklyn and were presented to the United Nations in 1949 by Elenor Roosevelt as a symbol of hope, are depicted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. In balancing the composition the painting also includes arfaj flowers, the official flower of Kuwait which are also yellow, are positioned in the middle ground behind the renowned Kuwait towers.