Opening Reception of “Stories My Father Told Me” by Helen Zghaib

In every family, there is a storyteller, a hakawati, who holds the power to turn memory into legacy. For the Helen Zghaib and their siblings, that storyteller was their father. Each evening, as the clatter 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 eventually led him to immigrate to America in 1946.

The twenty-five paintings in this exhibition correspond to twenty-five of his stories. They capture scenes of village life, lessons in morality, and the rhythms of family, tradition, and migration. Through these works, the artist weaves together personal and collective memory. Their father’s past, their own childhood, and the broader Lebanese and Syrian heritage that shapes both.

Though rooted in one family’s narrative, these paintings speak to something universal: the way stories connect us across time and place. They invite viewers to recall their own storytellers, to hear echoes of familiar voices, and to find themselves within the shared fabric of memory and belonging.