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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Al-Hilali, Neda, 1938-  Search this
Interviewer:
Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this
Subject:
Bassler, James W.  Search this
Hunsaker, Joyce Badgley  Search this
Jacobs, Ferne K. (Ferne Kent)  Search this
Kester, Bernard  Search this
Simsar, Alice  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
California State University, Los Angeles  Search this
Claremont Graduate University  Search this
Hunsaker/Schlesinger Gallery  Search this
Scripps College  Search this
Taliban  Search this
University of California, Los Angeles  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place of publication, production, or execution:
California
Physical Description:
116 Pages, Transcript; 22 Items, Sound recording: 22 sound files (7 hr., 46 min.), digital, wav
General Note:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 22 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 46 min.
Summary:
An interview of Neda Al-Hilali conducted 2006 July 18-19, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's home, in Los Angeles, California.
Al-Hilali speaks of her childhood in Czechoslovakia and Bavaria; studying language in London; her experience living in Baghdad, Iraq with her first husband; moving to California and completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees at UCLA; teaching experiences at Scripps College, Claremont Graduate University, California State University Los Angeles, and UCLA; the installation processes of Beach Occurrence with Tongues, Black Passage, the Cassiopeia series, and others; frustrations she encountered with commission work; the rich history of the fiber tradition; travels to Afghanistan, Japan, and Oaxaca, Mexico; achieving gestural and painterly qualities with fiber; the importance of color in textile work in the Middle East; experiences with galleries, including the Hunsaker/Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica, California; utilizing a Ouija board for reflection and creative guidance; issues such as global warming and over-development; the status of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule; the gratitude she feels at being a part of the fiber tradition; and plans for the future. Al-Hilali also recalls Bernard Kester, Jim Bassler, Fern Jacobs, Joyce Hunsaker, Alice Simsar, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Neda Al-Hilali, 2006 July 18-19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Biography Note:
Neda Al-Hilali (1938- ) is a fiber artist and weaver in Los Angeles, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer in San Francisco, California.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Climatic changes  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13545
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)261763
AAA_collcode_alhila06
Theme:
Craft
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_261763