16/05/2026
Now installed at The Malta Building in Pittsburgh, PA: “Pandemic: Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Rania Mamoun“ by artist Diane Samuels.
This glass artwork brings together literary voices from Algeria, Martinique, and Sudan in a reflection on illness, colonialism, and resilience.
The panels feature English micro‑script transcriptions by Diane of:
„The Plague“ by Albert Camus (trans. Stuart Gilbert,1948)
“Medicine and Colonialism” from Frantz Fanon’s ‚A Dying Colonialism‘ (trans. Haakon Chevalier, 1965)
Poems from „Something Evergreen Called Life“ by Rania Mamoun (trans. Yasmine Seale , 2023)
The five‑bay format mirrors the structure of Camus’ novel.
Warm earth tones and deep blues evoke the landscapes and waters of Northern Africa. A map of Oran forms the background, while a red graph line — based on daily global Covid‑19 death tolls from 2020 — runs across all five bays.
Dedicated to those lost during the Covid‑19 pandemic, the work invites quiet reflection on the human condition across time and place.
Artist: Diane Samuels
Commissioned by Nancy & Woody Ostrow for The Malta Foundation for the Arts
Fabricator of glass: Glasmalerei Peters Studios
Technique: Airbrush and hand painting with vitiosus ceramic enamels and digital ceramic print.
Photos: Thomas Little