‘Spokane Women Together: Portraits and Stories’ exhibit on display at Spokane Valley Library

The Spokane Valley Library is marking Women’s History Month by hosting a photography exhibit during February that features portraits of women from nine countries who speak 14 languages and come from 11 different religious affiliations, all of whom call Spokane home.

The exhibit, “Spokane Women Together: Portraits and Stories,” is a collaboration of graphic artist Hilary Hart and her husband, portrait photographer Rick Singer.

The portraits are hung on the second floor of the library, filling much of the wall space. “It was a challenge to find a space long enough,” said Librarian Dana Mannino.

Mannino said the library is doing a series of programs around encouraging people to tell their own story. A good story will reflect the person and also provide a window into other cultures, she said.

“This particular exhibit is perfect,” she said. “It is us. These are women in Spokane but they’re also from all over the world. The books we collect are the same way. They’re a reflection of the community and a window into something.”

The women are photographed in pairs and singles. Some wear traditional clothing from their home country. Some of the photos are close-ups of the women holding treasured belongings in their hands.

Quotes from the women are scattered throughout. “Before the war we had good, normal lives with property and professional careers,” reads one. “We lost everything. There was unspeakable violence everywhere. The Red Cross helped us escape.”

Another reads, “My family attended the same temple as Anne Frank. As a member of the Dutch resistance in WW2, I helped forge identification papers and ration cards and helped many Jews escape the Nazis.”

Mannino said she was out of town when the exhibit went up. “When I came back, it was so powerful,” she said. “A lot of the stories you see described on the text, they describe often painful experiences. A lot of them have a smile of triumph on their faces. They’re confident.”

Library Services Manager Gwendolynn Haley said she saw the exhibit at the North Spokane Library and wanted to bring it to Spokane Valley Library.

“We thought our library customers in Spokane Valley would also enjoy seeing the exhibit, based on the interest in other parts of the county,” she said. “We are always looking for the opportunity to bring exhibits, arts and culture into the library for our community to experience.”

The project has its roots in an experience Hart had a couple of years ago. “I became curious about why a woman would wear a hijab in Spokane because Spokane is a pretty conservative town,” she said.

Wearing a hijab makes women a target for those who are prejudiced against Muslims, Hart said. So she called up the Spokane Islamic Center and asked them to refer her to a woman who could answer her questions. She was referred to Kawkab Shishani, a nursing professor at Washington State University.

“I was so fortunate to have been given her name,” Hart said. “She has become such a precious friend to me.”

At their initial meeting, the two talked for hours while Hart asked her “unfiltered” questions. They both enjoyed the experience so much they each invited some of their friends to a potluck.

“We had a wonderful, wide-ranging discussion,” she said.

The potlucks have continued and expanded since then, and Hart got the idea to have her husband photograph the women. She asked each a series of questions, but noted that the quotes that appear in the exhibit are not paired with the women who said them.

“We chose to take the answers and stir them up,” she said. “That was to make someone understand that the stories could come from anyone. We all have tragedy in our lives, we all have joy in our lives.”

Singer said he appreciated the uniqueness of each woman as he took their photograph.

“It was just really great to meet the women and hear their stories,” he said. “I’m a third-generation Spokanite. It was just great to see people from all over the world in my little town here.”

The exhibit started touring Spokane last year and has been at the Downtown Public Library, the YWCA, the Jundt Art Museum and the North Spokane Library. Hart said she didn’t expect it to still be going after all this time.

“I didn’t realize, for one, there were so many opportunities to present it in Spokane,” she said.

Those unable to visit the exhibit in person can see a video version at www. vimeo.com/262578124.

Often during an exhibit Hart will bring in a panel of some of the women, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to talk about their experiences. “Their comments have just been so profound,” she said. “Everyone who has continued to be a part of this has had a pretty life-changing experience.”

Hart is now mulling over her next project, which is based on the potlucks where the women share their traditional dishes.

“The food is so awesome,” she said. “The process of sharing food is a really important way of getting to know people who are not from your culture.”

Hart said she’s been in contact with Second Harvest about the women in their group using the organization’s new teaching kitchen to teach workshops on cooking traditional foods using ingredients available at Second Harvest. Hart said she’s been looking for grants to fund the project, but hasn’t been successful so far.

“I’m still hopeful,” she said.