Sat 11/10 @ 7PM-Sun 11/11 @ 9AM
Similar to how the American flag flown upside down is a sign of dire distress, Cleveland artist Loren Naji watched what was happening with homelessness in America and created spherical sculpture Emoh (home spelled backwards), which is made out of parts of demolished houses.
After touring the country with Emoh, Naji is now turning his attention to the current Tent City situation in Akron including roughly 40 homeless people who must vacate a tent city by Thanksgiving. In order to raise awareness, Naji is holding the Akron Tent City Compassionate Cookout with Emoh beginning at 7PM. November 11 and ending the next morning at 15 Broad Street in the Rubber City.
CoolCleveland talked to Naji about Emoh and the upcoming cookout.
CoolCleveland: Loren, what’s going on in Akron?
Loren Naji: This is about a building owner in Akron who has let people sleep in a very private backyard area. It’s called Tent City. Now, Akron is telling the residents they have to be out of there and basically the people have nowhere to go. The city is using Thanksgiving as the date they have to be out by.
CC: So how does the Akron Tent City Compassionate Cookout with Emoh play into this?
LN: On November 10, I’m going to be there around 7pm to have a have a cookout for the people living in tents and whoever shows up. I’m asking for people to come and support these people. Just come out and have fellowship with them, right before the Thanksgiving holiday. Get to know who these people are who are living in tents and don’t have homes. I thought I would bring some marshmallows too so people can have an outdoor party type thing. Really, it’s just to open up awareness. That night I will be sleeping inside of Emoh, which has a bed inside. And the next morning at 9am I’m going to serve donuts and coffee to everyone who shows up.
CC: Let’s talk about Emoh. What is it?
LN: So I built this large sphere called Emoh a while ago. I’ve been touring in it, living in it, confronting homelessness and the environment and our backwards system. That’s why it’s “home” spelled backwards. It’s made from parts of demolished houses. We have all of these empty houses in our environment. I was challenging the idea of why do we have all of these empty, boarded-up houses and all of these people on the street? I realized that it’s complex, and it’s not like you can just say to the homeless people move in these houses. But I do believe as compassionate human beings, who have invented computers and cars and landed on the moon, we should be able at least be able to solve our problem of human beings having shelter. As a visual artist, that’s my sort of sort of statement about it all.
CC: So what kind of reaction has Emoh received?
LN: In general, people love this sphere. It’s an odd thing. It’s on a trailer and I’ve toured it. I brought it to New York City, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Toronto. I almost won ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Out of 1,453 entrants, I came in No. 5.
CC: Finally, what do you hope people take away from the Akron Tent City Compassionate Cookout event?
LN: I’m raising awareness that our building codes and systems are becoming priority over people having a roof over their heads. I’m really against somebody saying, “Oh, this is not zoned for residential or not zoned for camping” or whatever the hell they want to call it. Here are people who don’t have anywhere to go. And we have a generous guy who is allowing them to pitch tents on his property. In my opinion, what’s wrong with that? I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. It’s organized. It’s a very private little area that’s not an eyesore to anyone. I think it will create awareness and show that these are people like us. In fact, I’ve learned anyone can become homeless. There are so many circumstances. Some lost their homes through divorce, after being fired or had bad investments. There are so many reasons people go homeless.
