An installation at Cal Poly celebrates a new oral history project that captures the voices of San Luis Obispo’s Arab American community.
14 people were interviewed for the project called “Mawtini: Arab American Narratives of Home and Belonging.”
“Mawtini” means “my homeland” in Arabic.
Sandra Sarrouf was both an interviewer and interviewee for this project. She said oral history is really about letting the interviewee, or narrator as they’re called in the discipline, guide the story.
“You might come with a whole list of questions, but as someone conducting interviews, you might get through two of those questions in a three hour interview,” Sarrouf said. “Oral history is about allowing the narrators to guide the story.”
Sarrouf said “Mawtini” was partly inspired by seeing Gaza portrayed in the media over the last two years and wanting to reframe narratives about Arab communities.
“ I've really connected more with the community in the past couple years out of strife, out of this need to come together and activate and see what is happening in Palestine and the way we're framed,” Sarrouf said. “So for better or for worse, the community has really come together.”
Some of the themes explored in the recordings include stories of migration, family, and navigating the hyphenated identity of both Arab and American.
The City of San Luis Obispo awarded the project a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion High Impact Grant in 2024. “Mawtini” was organized in part by the local nonprofits Our Roots/Our Routes and the Peace Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Deena, who asked only to be identified by her first name, moved with her family from Kuwait to the U.S. when she was young. She said being a narrator for this project made her reflect on her past and how difficult it must have been for her parents to make the decision to leave.
“ For me personally, it encourages me to talk about it with my kids and even some of my siblings who are younger than me,” Deena said. “If we don't talk about it, then our history is erased.”
The Mawtini installation will remain up at the Cal Poly Kennedy Library Gallery until March 20. That exhibit features treasured objects like old photos and family heirlooms alongside excerpts from the oral history recordings.
Clips from the interviews can also be heard on the “Mawtini” website.
