“This was the first work that started us thinking about the exhibition,” Winter said. “He wanted to do these very large works that would have an impact on you. He painted in a very expressive manner, because he wanted to grab your attention and spark a very strong response.”

Winter first encountered Kanso’s work in 2022 at a conference on art from the Arab world. She appreciated how different his work was from any other artist she had seen before, she said. Kanso’s kids were working to create awareness around his work when she decided it was time to showcase it at MSU. 

With the exhibition coming to life three years later, it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese Civil War. 

“Although the show goes very far beyond the Lebanese Civil War, that kind of historical juncture was very important to me in my thinking,” Winter said. “But it was also very important to Kanso in his life, because the civil war for him made it feel like he couldn't permanently resettle in his home in Lebanon.”

Throughout the exhibition, Kanso's paintings grapple with the human toll of war—an experience he knew intimately. As someone who fled war and never felt he could return home, Kanso poured personal history into his work. Themes of displacement, grief and survival appear often, particularly in images of women and children.

“He was a family man and very much cared for his wife and his children,” Winter said. “He wanted to understand and draw our attention to the ways that different people experience war. So while there were a lot of male soldiers out and fighting, the women were taking care of the children.”

Hassan, the professor who joined the project in a supporting role, noted how Kanso's work resists easy interpretation.

“(The paintings) almost overwhelm you as you look at them and you try to understand what’s the story they’re trying to tell,” he said. “You get a sense of a certain kind of heartbreak and grief, like you can't look at them without feeling that there's a certain kind of madness there in those conflicts: incomprehensible, irrational and devastating.”

In one series, Kanso addressed the environmental and emotional destruction of the Gulf War. In another, his brushwork captures the anguish of the Syrian conflict. The exhibition swiftly moves between metaphor and historical reference, documentation and abstraction.

In curating this exhibition, Winter anticipated the emotional weight it may carry for viewers.

“Even if, for example, you're not from Lebanon or Syria or Iraq, there are scenes of violence and conflict that I think a lot of individuals may relate to or identify with or have family who have experienced that,” she said.

The exhibit was also timed to overlap with Arab American Heritage Month in April. This exhibition follows a history of things at the museums that have looked to Arab and Arab American audiences and communities, Winter said. She’s adamant that there will be more of these projects to come. 

For Hassan, he feels that the show also brings visibility to a community that has long been excluded from U.S. cultural narratives.

“Hopefully this leads to some greater recognition of the way that Arabs participate in the culture of the United States,” he said. “And recognition for those stories, because in many ways, the stories that are told about war in the Middle East that come through the media often characterize the Arabs as terrorists. There's very little recognition that Arabs are also the victims.”

The exhibition is a part of a broader effort at the Broad to diversify its holdings.

“Many Arab artists in the U.S. have been left out of American art histories,” Winter said. “And sometimes Arab artists in the diaspora kind of get left out of certain Arab art histories. For me as a curator, it's really important to dedicate my time and attention particularly to artists who haven't been recognized.”

Hassan said he appreciated the choices Winter made in how she curated the show. For instance, the last piece of art includes an image of a dove—something Hassan notes as a symbol of peace. 

“It really creates a sense of empathy and intensity of the conflicts in that region,” he said.  

The Broad Art Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission.

“It's a unique opportunity to see this show,” Winter said. “This show is really the first Kanso in many ways, but I certainly hope it's not the last.”