Stories My Father Told Me
by Helen Zughaib
Opening reception: Thursday, November 13, 6 - 8 PM
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Gallery is pleased to present Stories My Father Told Me, a solo exhibition by renowned artist Helen Zughaib. The exhibition opens Thursday, November 13th, from 6–9 PM at Al-Bustan’s gallery, located at 310 W Master St, Philadelphia PA.
In every family, there is a storyteller — a hakawati — who turns memory into legacy. For Helen Zughaib and her siblings, that storyteller was their father. Each evening, as the sounds of dinner faded, his voice would rise to fill the room: “Let me tell you a story.” What followed were tales of his childhood in Damascus, his youth in Lebanon, and the moments that led him to immigrate to the United States in 1946.
The twenty-five paintings in Stories My Father Told Me correspond to twenty-five of these cherished stories. Zughaib brings them to life through vivid colors and intricate patterns, capturing scenes of village life, lessons in morality, and the rhythms of family, tradition, and migration. Through her brushwork, she transforms oral histories into visual narratives, weaving together her father’s past, her own memories, and the broader Lebanese and Syrian heritage that shapes both.
Though rooted in one family’s experiences, the exhibition speaks to something universal: the enduring power of storytelling to bridge generations and preserve identity. Each work invites viewers to recall their own storytellers, to hear echoes of familiar voices, and to find themselves within a shared fabric of belonging.
About the Artist
Helen Zughaib was born in Beirut, Lebanon, living mostly in the Middle East and Europe before coming to the United States to study art at Syracuse University, earning her BFA from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Helen currently lives and works in Washington, DC, as an artist. She paints primarily in gouache and ink on board and canvas. More recently, she has worked with wood, shoes, cloth and glass in mixed media installations.
Her work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, and Lebanon. Her paintings are included in many private and public collections, including the White House, World Bank, Library of Congress, US Consulate General, Vancouver, American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, the Barjeel Collection in Sharjah, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the DC Art Bank Collection. Her work has been included in Art in Embassy State Department exhibitions abroad, including Brunei, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Iraq, Belgium, Lebanon, Sweden, Abu Dhabi, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. Helen has served as Cultural Envoy to Palestine, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. The John F. Kennedy Center/REACH has selected Helen as a member of the 2021-24 Inaugural Social Practice Residency. Her paintings have been gifted to heads of state by President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is the recipient of the Senior Fellowship at Abraham Path Initiative, 2024-25.
“As an Arab American, I hope through my work, to encourage dialogue and bring understanding and acceptance between the people of the Arab world and the West. My work is ultimately about creating empathy and a shared space for introspection and dialogue. I ask the viewer to see through someone else’s eyes, to walk in another’s shoes. To accept the ‘other.’ To reject divisiveness. To promote acceptance and understanding and to reject violence and subjugation of anyone anywhere. To give voice to the voiceless, to heal, and to reflect in our shared humanity.”
