Interview: Ibrahim Khazzaka on Ceramic Practice, Cross-Cultural Work, and Making as a Way of Knowing

Hi everyone, 

I was recently featured by the Pima County Public Library as part of Arab American Heritage Month. The piece traces parts of my path from Beirut, Lebanon to Tucson, Arizona, and how I arrived at ceramics as both a material and a way of processing.

The interview touches on a few things that have been shaping my work over the past years: working across cultures, learning through making, and staying with the tension between intuition and the systems we inhabit. There’s also a bit about the less visible side of the practice: production work, studio labor, knowledge and experience transmission , and the long process of figuring things.

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A word of praise for the Pima Public Library: I want to take a moment to acknowledge the Pima County Public Library.

It’s a place I return to often as an engaged community member who has felt genuinely welcomed there. They’ve hosted my work twice, and each time, they were thoughtful, accessible, and rooted in a commitment to the people who move through their spaces.

What stands out is how seriously they take the role of the library as a civic and cultural institution. Their support for the arts is embedded in how they engage with Tucson’s communities, especially immigrants, making space for stories, practices, and identities to be seen and valued.

It’s rare to encounter institutions that are grounded and generous and in many ways. 

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Read the Interview

I’m grateful to Niki Giammarco and Talya Atallah who took the time to have this conversation, and I am grateful to the communities that continue to support my work in Tucson and beyond.

As always, thank you for being part of this journey.