On Saturday, Sept. 22, The Hammer Museum, under the guidance of curator Aram Moshayedi, will unveil their second exhibition for the season: Hammer Projects: Shadi Habib Allah. Allah’s creations will transport his viewers to Liberty City, an impoverished neighborhood of Miami, to examine its economic conditions, more specifically, corner stores. The exhibit will illustrate the underground role of community banks that corner stores in Liberty City are fulfilling. Free to the public, doors will open at 11 a.m for those who wish to learn about a disenfranchised community and its relationship with the current state of welfare.

Shadi Habib Allah’s most recent work on government welfare assistance sits adjacent to the Hammer Museum welcome center on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 in Westwood, California. Allah’s examines the residents and corner stores of Liberty City, Miami, FL.

Allah’s past works have been displayed at museums, such as the Tate Modern, in London, and film festivals, like the International Film Festival Rotterdam. With a background in sculpture, film, installation, and more, the utilization of mixed media is not new to Allah. The Hammer Museum notes his data collection as a means to deal with everyday truths. As seen in his biography on the Green Art Gallery website, Allah is distinguishing himself through, “research and physical engagement."

Peering through Shadi Habib Allah’s empty bulk packaging sculptures at the Hammer Museum on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 in Westwood, California.

His biography continues to say, "A common thread is opening up suggestive modes of navigation across circulation networks of people, technologies, objects, images, and economy to examine ideas of use and value and the structures that hold them in place.” This philosophy will continue with the audio clips, photographs or sculptures of Liberty City corner stores presented at the museum.

A codependent relationship between Liberty City denizens and neighborhood corner stores is presented in this display. “The stores maintain an interdependent relationship with their clientele by allowing customers to buy groceries on credit or exchange food stamps for cash,” according to the official Hammer Museum website.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition Service states that approximately 41.2 million Americans use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. The exhibition falls under The Consortium Commission, which assists the Mophradat, a non-profit that promotes art from the Arab world to co-commission Arab artists that are new to the pursuit.

The exhibition will run from Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 to Jan. 20, 2019.