GraffitiStreet

Hi Samantha! Would you give us a brief explanation of what AptART is all about?

Samantha

We’re all about amplifying voices. AptART is an acronym for Awareness and Prevention Through Art. We utilize art in the public space (generally Street Art) to spark conversation and create spaces for marginalized populations to be heard, mostly youth. 

GraffitiStreet

What made you found aptART? What is your history?

Samantha

I studied art and politics at Lewis and Clark College, which is a small liberal arts school chalked full hippy types who want to save the world. After graduating I moved over seas and volunteered with some children’s art projects. It sounds a bit cheesed but I honestly believe art is something everyone should have access to regardless of nationality, race, religion class or conflict. Whether it be the creation of the art or just seeing art on the walls of a community, humans benefit from it.

GraffitiStreet

When you started aptART was it a one woman company?

Samantha

No, no, no. Anyone who says they did something like this all on their own is delusional. I have had a lot of help along the way and still have some much support! Herakut, Jonathan Darby and Nina Constable have been immensely supportive in a creative sense as well as friends who helped to develop the administrative side like Leah O’Bryant and Nick Renn. I am usually the one driving the bus, but there are a lot of people on that bus.

GraffitiStreet

How have you grown? How many is in the team now?

Samantha

Since we started in a one-room grass hut in Mozambique, there was a lot of room for growth. We have a core team of about 4 and 10-12 artists we work with depending on who best suits a given project. 

aptart

GraffitiStreet

Which street artists have helped with your projects?

Samantha

Herakut have always been incredibly supportive! I met them about 4 years ago in San Francisco and they’ve been incredible to work with ever since. Anything we need, they’re up for it. We work in some slightly dodgy places where a lot of other artists won’t go. They have quite a busy schedule but if they can manage the time, they’re up for it. Jonathan Darby has also been helpful in teaching me about photography and graphic design, I was really influenced by his work. Ruben Sanchez is an absolute star. We’ve put him in some pretty rough spots over the years and he always manages to make some magic happen and he does it with a smile. Suhaib Attar, Kevin Ledo, Joel Bergner, Max Frieder, Jumana Hokan, David Shllinglaw, Ali Kiwan…those aren’t all of them, but all have been rad to work with!  

GraffitiStreet

What was your first project? And what did you learn from this?

Samantha

The first project was in Mozambique and I learned about “Africa Time”. That may sounds culturally insensitive but it’s true. I would show up for a meeting on time and everyone else would start to trickle in about 30 minutes later. I got frustrated at first but it’s just a different pace of life. I would say I learnt about chill vibes, enjoying life and stressing less, which takes some adjusting.

GraffitiStreet

You brought street art to the Gaza strip with Akut with a beautiful project ‘Eyes of Gaza’, give a brief explanation of the project and what benefits the murals have brought to the children?

Samantha

The voice of Gaza isn’t one that the world hears very often. It’s not a narrative that makes it into mainstream media in the US or Europe. You hear a lot from Benjamin Netanyahu and about the wars but you don’t hear from the people or the kids in Gaza. I think people of all ages want to be listened to and feel like they have value in their society. Painting in a public place and putting your ideas on a wall that you and everyone else in your community see everyday is a pretty big concept for any kid. To have those walls images shown to people all over the world is even more exciting.

Aptart Gaza 2015

Gaza

Gaza

GraffitiStreet

AptART works with refugees who have fled Syria across borders into Jordans Za’atari refugee camps and use street art projects to lift the spirits of the camp. How does the art achieve this?

Samantha

When people arrive in a new place that they are expected to live for an indefinite amount of time (after feeling death and destruction) it’s important to be able to make these places feel like home. Particularly after what most of the refugees coming from Syria have experienced, having a place they can identify as there own is important. Hard aid such as food distributions and hygiene kits are 100% necessary, but what is also important is interacting with people on a human level that goes beyond their basic needs. Engaging the community in activities, listening to their ideas and providing spaces for people to create. Before they are refugees, they are human beings. 

GraffitiStreet

Aptart work with the children in the refugee camps who have witnessed the unthinkable, do you find a lot of emotions can be released through painting and being able to express themselves?

Samantha

Certainly, but I am always clear that we don’t do art therapy. There are groups that do art therapy and sometimes we collaborate with them, but we are not qualified to do that sort of work. That being said we are preview to some interesting things. As you mention one of places we work are the Syrain refugee camps across the Middle East. We’ve been working with Syrians for more than 3 years now and a recent project we were based in Iraq not far from ISIS front lines. We were painting the dream city we would all build in the future as we have done in different camps many times before, when something changed. In previous paintings children would create planes and when you inquire further about their plane, they would tell you that is where the bombs come from, but in December when we asked a Syrian child about the plane, they told us something new, this time there no bombs and the plane was going to Germany. It’s a rather small thing, but it demonstrates a very basic human survival mechanism, hope. Hope is a shared human trait, as universal as hunger, fear and happiness.

GraffitiStreet

Do you belive we need to target the youth for a better future?

Samantha

Of course, youth ARE the future, if not them, then who? 

GraffitiStreet

IWD theme this year is gender parity, You have just completed 'Open Space' street art project to recognise women in Jordan and achieve gender equality, give us a brief description ? How did the local community respond to this?

Samantha

Women in Jordan are highly educated (more educated then their male counter parts) but few are transitioning out of the home and into the public space. Equal and open participation of men and women in the workforce and civil society is not happening. To provide and encourage an open space for dialogue on gender equality we teamed up with USAID Takmol to launch a street art initiative. Through community outreach and the creation of 8 large-scale pieces of street art we aimed to generate conversation from the community for the community. International and national artists work with teams of over 300 participant to build positive interactions between men and women through community workshops. The workshops resulted in collaborative painting across walls in high traffic areas all over Jordan. We had the pleasure of working with 5 artists from 5 different countries- Ruben Sanchez (Spain), Suhaib Attar(Jordan), Akut of Herakut (Germany), Jonathan Darby (UK) and Kevin Ledo (Canada)

aptart-kevin-ledo-1-2

GraffitiStreet

So what is it like to be a woman in Jordan?

Samantha

In the grand scale of the region, Jordan is relatively progressive. I can tell you what it’s like to be a western woman in Jordan but that’s a very different experience then what it is to be a Jordanian or Arab woman in Jordan. I dress more conservatively and not everyone will shake my hand, but people are generally respectful, I am invited to eat my meals with the men. Like any place, if you respect them, they will respect you.

Jonathan Darby

GraffitiStreet

Have you witnessed any discrimination personally in Jordan because you are a woman making noise...and art!?

Samantha

In more conservative areas community leaders have told the female staff that we could not paint in public because we are women, but that doesn’t happen in Amman or other big cities.

Jonathan Darby

Jonathan Darby

GraffitiStreet

IWD predict it will take to 2123 to close the gap between gender parity! How do you feel about that!

Samantha

I think that’s optimistic. In some parts of the world the gap is not shrinking, it’s getting larger. If you look at the role of women in the 1960s and 70s in Afghanistan or Egypt it was very different then it is now. In some places we’re moving backwards. 

GraffitiStreet

You’ve certainly been busy with aptART has any particular project stuck with you? and why?

Samantha

The projects we do in the Kurdish Region of Iraq are always meaningful. Iraq has such a stigma about it, but it’s one of my favourite places on earth! The people are magic. If you don’t know about the Kurds, do some research.
Also, the wheel barrow boys in Zaatari refugee camp are pretty special. They’re rough boys, but we had a lot of fun! And of coarse the skate parks are always a good time, there is really nothing better than quality time with the international skate rat club. 

GraffitiStreet

What projects have you in the pipeline?

Samantha

We’ve got a few things in the works. We’re heading to Ethiopia next month to paint a Skate park with our partner Make Life Skate Life

Support the Skatepark project by donating here

Then we head over to Istanbul for the Humanitarian World Summit. We’re also working on a project in the US. The hate speech and the Islamaphobia coming out of the election right now are scary and disgusting. In response, we’re working on the community cohesion projects with Muslims, Arabs and marginalized people.
I’m always trying to get back to Iraq, but we’re working on some things for Gaza and DR Congo. In Jordan we are developing another gender project with USAID Takamol. 2016 is going to be pretty hectic, YALLA!

GraffitiStreet

What would you like to see in the future for aptART?

Samantha

Probably more street art, but who knows maybe we’ll start getting into conceptual performance art…anything is possible.