Movie: Costa Brava at SIFF
2022-09-09 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-09-10 14:30 - 16:30, 2022-09-10 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-09-11 15:00 - 17:00, 2022-09-11 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, 98109
Lebanon | 2021 | 107 min. | Mounia Akl
Filmed just a couple of months after the August 2020 Beirut port explosion that claimed more than 200 lives, this film references an earlier crisis of government corruption and ineptitude, the 2015 Beirut garbage crisis, when the streets of the city were congested with uncollected trash. But it functions as both a general-purpose lamentation for Lebanon as well as an allegory for our global climate catastrophe. Soraya (Nadine Labaki) and Walid Badri (Saleh Bakri) long ago fled the pollution and dysfunction of Beirut to live off the grid in an idyllic mountain hideaway. Raising their two young daughters and caring for Walid’s elderly mother, they have abandoned the political action with which they used to face the country’s problems—until the country’s problems come looking for them. One day, representatives of the government arrive in the valley where the Badris live to begin construction of a new landfill. (“Don’t worry,” they assure them, “This will be a ‘green’ landfill.”) The construction gradually encroaches on the family’s property, and the pile of garbage grows bigger. As toxic smoke fills the air and the water in the swimming pool turns blood-red, tensions rise within the family. “Where will we run away to this time?” asks Soraya. A famous singer and activist in her younger years, she is ready to take up the struggle again. Walid is not so sure. — Justine Barda

Director:Mounia Akl
Principal Cast:Nadine Labaki, Saleh Bakri, Nadia Charbel, Ceana Restom, Geana Restom
Country:Lebanon, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Qatar
Year:2021
Running Time:107 min.
Producer:Myriam Sassine, Georges Schoucair
Screenplay:Mounia Akl, Clara Roquet
Cinematographers:Joe Saade
Editors:Carlos Marques-Marcet, Cyril Aris
Music:Nathan Larson
Awards:London Film Festival 2021 (Audience Award: Best Film)
Language:Arabic
Has Subtitles:Yes
US Distributor:Kino Lorber
International Sales:mk2 Films

A Treasury of Palestinian Stitches Program with Tatreez and Tea
2022-09-10 - 2022-10-15
Begins September 10 (Saturdays at 12pm EST)
Inspired by the infamous book by Margarita Skinner, “A Treasury of Stitches”, this program honors the various needle working techniques of historic Palestine beyond the cross-stitch. “A Treasury of Palestinian Stitches” program is a creative independent project, where students participate in a six-part virtual course teaching the traditional stitches practiced by Palestinians for centuries, learning the correct implementation and use of each stitch.
The course series covers 10 traditional stitches, including couching stitch (tahriri and rasheq), satin stitch, habka stitch, sabalah stitch, managel stitch, two types of back-stitch, double buttonhole stitch, buttonhole wheel. All classes will be conducted virtually and will be recorded for those that cannot attend the scheduled Zoom sessions.
Fall 2022 Schedule: September 10, 17, 24/ October 1, 8, 15
REGISTER NOW

MACFEST 2022: Islamic Calligraphy Workshop (online)
2022-09-12 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London)
Join our Islamic Calligraphy workshop led by the internationally renowned calligrapher Samir Malik as part of Arab heritage Festival

About this event

Join us for our workshop introducing the basics of Islamic art led by the internationally renowned calligrapher Samir Malik to celebrate Arab Heritage.
Your will learn the basics in Islamic calligraphy and start the journey of writing beautifully, exploring their creativity and getting to know a side of Islam that will allow them to beautify your homes, the world and transcend boundaries and faiths.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/macfest-2022-islamic-calligraphy-workshop-tickets-269919686047

Venice LIVE [Virtual] Walking Tour: Old Jewish District and Old Arab District
2022-09-13 09:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join our live stream walk to enjoy one of the oldest jewish districts around Europe.
We will go behind the scenes of fascinating stories and amazing colors, the tour will hit the Cannareggio district, including the ancient arab district.
Join our walk to discover the lovely venice atmosphere.

P&P Live! Zoulfa Katouh | As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow with Sabaa Tahir (virtual)
2022-09-13 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Salama Kassab was just a normal teenager living a normal life. But as revolution ignites Syria, burning stronger and brighter with each day, Salama recognizes the urgent need to seek safety outside of the country. Just a first year Pharmacy student, she is asked to perform procedures way beyond her education at the local hospital, where she witnesses firsthand the brutality of war. As she mourns family members lost in the violence, and struggles to protect her pregnant sister-in-law, her anxiety morphs into a physical manifestation in the form of an imaginary friend, Khawf, who provides comfort as her constant companion. But even as she is desperate to flee to safety, she is conflicted by her loyalty to her country. This gripping work of speculative fiction mixes current events with elements of fantasy, providing a heartbreaking glimpse into a country at war. Author Zoulfa Katouh draws from her own experiences as a Syrian to create a well-rounded and relatable protagonist and supporting characters.
Registrations that include the purchase of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow will come with exclusive art cards while supplies last.
Pre-orders of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow come with additional promotional items. Once you have purchased your copy, CLICK HERE to complete the form and upload your receipt. Items will be shipped directly from the author and require proof of purchase.
Zoulfa Katouh is a Syrian Canadian based in Switzerland. She is currently pursuing her master’s in Drug Sciences. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is her debut novel.
Sabaa Tahir began writing her #1 New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes series while working nights as a newspaper editor. The series has been translated into over thirty-five languages, and the first book in the series was named one of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time and one of Entertainment Weekly’s 10 Best YA Books of the decade. Tahir’s most recent novel, All My Rage, released in March 2022 to widespread critical acclaim. An instant New York Times bestseller, All My Rage has received eight starred reviews and the 2022 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry.

Authors SUSAN MUADDI DARRAJ, MARCUS BURKE and JUDY BOLTON-FASMAN discuss identity and race
2022-09-13 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Pen Parentis Literary Salons invites you to an exciting LIVECAST featuring literary readings and intimate discussion with 3 amazing authors about themes of IDENTITY AND RACE in their writing and life.

Abdulrazak Gurnah — Afterlives — with Tope Folarin (LIVE and virtual)
2022-09-13 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Upcoming Event

Tuesday, September 13, 2022 – 7:00pm ET

Click here for tickets to this in-person event!
At this in-person event (with a virtual attendance option), masks and proof of vaccination are required. Please review our health and safety protocols here.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. After fleeing his native Zanzibar for the United Kingdom at age 18, Gurnah turned to writing in English as a way to make sense of the hardships of a refugee’s existence. With a gift for transforming the experience of displacement into gripping fiction, Gurnah brings intimacy and humanity to the realities of colonialism. Afterlives follows a trio of young people living, working, and falling in love, their fates knotted ever more tightly together against the backdrop of the German colonial rule of 20th-century East Africa.
Gurnah will be in conversation with Tope Folarin, the Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies, the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University, and the author of the novel A Particular Kind of Black Man.
with Politics and Prose
This program will run approximately 1 hour.
Virtual attendees will receive the event access link 48 hours, 2 hours, and 10 minutes before the event begins.

Freedom Film Series: "Rebuilding Hope: Sudan's Lost Boys Return Home"
2022-09-15 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join DSP and HOPE For Ariang for the next in our Freedom Film Series, Rebuilding Hope: Sudan’s Lost Boys Return Home, on Thursday, September 15 at 8pm ET/5pm PT.
Rebuilding Hope tells the story of Gabriel Bol Deng, Koor Garang and Garang Mayor. As small children, they fled their villages in South Sudan due to civil war. This is a documentary film of Gabriel Bol, Koor, and Garang’s quest to find surviving family-members and rediscover and contribute to their homeland. This film is Donkeysaddle’s first project, made in 2009, and is as relevant today as when it was made. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Gabriel Bol Deng, one of the protagonists of the film, and filmmaker Jen Marlowe.
Tickets are by donation, and will be split between Donkeysaddle Projects and HOPE for Ariang.

MACFEST 2022: Egyptian Cuisine (online)
2022-09-15 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London)
Join Alaa Zalat to learn about some of Egypt’s famous food!

About this event

Egyptian food is very famous especially our street food fool, falafel, Shakshouka and Mousaka. Egyptian people love spicy food and always use onions and garlic as these vegetables are planted in our country which is why we have this unique taste. Desserts like Mehalabia and Basbousa can be eaten after this delicious meal. you will learn how to prepare Moussaka, so don’t miss it.
Join us to experience the sweet and savoury dishes from the Arab world with MACFEST member Alaa Zalat!

Syrian cookery class with Allaa (online)
2022-09-15 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London)
Learn the secrets of Syrian cooking in Allaa’s online cookery class!

About this event

Join Chef Allaa in preparing a wonderful Syrian meal for her online cookery class! She is a wonderful teacher, chef and story-teller. She will share the secrets to traditional Syrian dishes. This is your chance to learn a brand new cuisine, support an amazing cause, and eat great food.
The class will be conducted as an interactive virtual cook-along. The classes usually range from 1-2 hours long. The chef will lead the group step by step through the recipes; stopping frequently to answer questions, share anecdotes, and provide feedback on your dishes!
Before the class we will send you a list of ingredients, quantities and equipment so you can join ready to learn! Please read this carefully as there may be some recipes you need to prepare before the class. We will also send you a reminder email 3 days before the class takes place that will include the Zoom link, titled “Your upcoming online Migrateful Class”. You can also find the Zoom link on the Online Event Page, accessible through the link included in the Eventbrite reminder email.
Chef Allaa’s cook-along dishes will be Syrian Samosas, Mohamarah (Red Pepper and Walnut Dip) and a Pickle Salad
This menu contains meat (chicken). Allergens include: Celery, gluten, nuts, mustard, eggs, milk, sulphites.
Equipment needed

2 Mixing bowls
Food processor / Blender
Cutting board
Knife
Frying pan
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Slotted spoon
Kitchen paper

Ingredients

300g chicken, boneless and skinless, is the best thigh,
but breast is also possible. Or use chickpeas or soya
chicken for vegetarians.
150g grated cheddar cheese
1 red bell pepper
1 medium size onion
3 medium pickled cucumbers
1 large spring onion
2 medium tomatoes
2 lemons
3 cloves garlic
1 tin of mushrooms or 200g of fresh mushrooms
2 tbsp of pepper paste (any kind you like it hot or sweet)
3 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
3-4 tbsp breadcrumbs (or a gluten-free option)
250g plain flour (or a gluten-free flour like almond or oat)
1 egg
100g of walnuts
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Aleppo seven spices (see note below)
1 tbsp curry powder (hot or normal one)
1 tbsp nigella seeds
1⁄2 tbsp ground cumin
1 Maggi chicken stock cube
1.5 litres cooking oil
100ml of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Message from Allaa: “My name is Allaa and I am a spice master and cook from Syria. I had to leave my home city of Aleppo in 2013 and spent some time in Egypt before coming to the UK. When I was in Egypt I set up a spice business selling spices to the growing community of Syrians based there, I was selling around 100kg per week of fresh spice mixes.
In 2019 we settled in Leatherhead, Surrey and feel more comfortable and have a strong community and network. I am in the process of working with TERN to set up a spice business called Bereoa here selling my homemade Z’atar, Aleppo 7 Spice and Turkish Delight. I hope to launch Bereoa in Summer 2021 and to continue teaching my Syrian cookery classes. Sharing my food and sharing my recipes brings me happiness and joy.”
Payments made through Paypal can take up to 48 hours to have the order confirmed. To guarantee your spot on a cookery class we recommend using a debit or credit card.
Please note, we only process refunds and ticket transfers if we are notified 7 days before the class takes place.

Arabic Chat Hour
2022-09-15 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-09-22 19:00 - 20:00 UTC
Whether you’re a native speaker or learner, this is a great chance to practice listening and speaking in Arabic!
Zoom room number provided upon registeration.

Tinariwen at Neumos
2022-09-15 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Neumos, 925 E Pike, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
A collective of Tuareg singers, songwriters, and musicians hailing from the Sahara Desert, Tinariwen plays music that is often categorized as “desert blues.” The group comes together in different configurations for live performances and in the studio, and has been called “music’s true rebels” by NPR.

Seffarine with Flamenco Guitar Master Antonio Rey in Concert (Salem)
2022-09-16 19:30 - 21:00, 2022-09-17 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Seffarine will be joining maestro Antonio Rey as guest artists in his Oregon concerts Antonio Rey, flamenco guitar, winner of Latin Grammy for best flamenco album Laura Onizuka, flamenco dance Lamiae Naki, voice Nat Hulskamp & Mario Diaz, guitars

Ahmed Ahmed at Club Comedy - Seattle
2022-09-16 20:00 - 21:30, 2022-09-16 22:30 - 23:30, 2022-09-17 20:00 - 21:30, 2022-09-17 22:30 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Club Comedy – Seattle, 328 15th Ave E, Seattle, 98112, United States
Ahmed Ahmed is an Egyptian/American/Muslim who started his acting career at the age of 19. After several years of being typecast as terrorists and cabdrivers he decided to shift into stand-up comedy to have a voice and make a name for himself. He is an internationally touring comedian and has been in the comedy business for 27 years. He’s also the co-founder of the groundbreaking “Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour” which aired on Comedy Central and made history by bringing that tour all over the Middle East, performing for over 20,000 people. Ahmed has been seen on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” has 2 Showtime comedy specials, and appeared in Vince Vaughn‘s “Wild West Comedy Show,” “WEEDS,” “Swingers,” “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan,” and “Iron Man.” He’s been in dozens of news articles and press including The View, CNN, Wall Street Journal, NPR, BBC, TMZ, New York Times, New York Post, Newsweek, and GQ to name a few. He made his directorial debut with his award winning documentary, “Just Like Us,” which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival and played on Netflix, Starz, Showtime, and various streaming platforms. This documentary garnered him an invite to the White House to have dinner with President Barack Obama. Following his documentary, he was cast by Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley to star in TBS’s “Sullivan and Son” which aired for three seasons. Currently Ahmed can be seen in the ViceTV documentary, “TOO SOON.” He is developing several tv shows and films for ViceTV.

Nick Youssef at the Crocodile
2022-09-17 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Crocodile, 2505 1st Ave, Seattle, WA, 98033, United States
Nick Youssef is a LA/NY based comedian, writer, actor and host of The According To Nick Youssef podcast. Nick’s comedy has featured on Hulu, NBCs Last Call, @Midnight, Viceland’s ‘Funny How?’ and podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience and WTF with Marc Maron. Nick’s first two standup albums debuted in the top 5 of the iTunes comedy charts and are obnoxiously available in physical vinyl format. Aside from standup, Nick is a contributing writer for Esquire and Brooklyn Magazines and is constantly telling his dog Ricky he’s a good little buddy.

Jamal Gabobe presents 'The Path of Difference' at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park
2022-09-19 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Third Place Books – Lake Forest Park, 17171 Bothell Way NE #A101, Lake Forest Park, WA, 98155, United States
Third Place Books welcomes local poet Jamal Gabobe to our Lake Forest Park store! Gabobe will be discussing his third collection of poetry The Path of Difference. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required in advance.
Copies of The Path of Difference will be available for purchase at the store. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

Abdulrazak Gurnah: In‑Person & Online
2022-09-20 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, United States
Winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives is a sweeping, multi-generational saga of displacement, loss, and love, set against the brutal colonization of east Africa. Following the story of Ilyas, a boy stolen by German colonial troops, Afterlives is a novel that “gathers close all those who were meant to be forgotten, and refuses their erasure.

At Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

In Person & Online

Literary Arts

Tuesday, September 20, 2022 7:30 pm PST

12.1 Meet The Postcard Women! by the Zay Initiative
2022-09-20 20:00 - 21:30 (Asia/Dubai)
Sit down and make yourself uncomfortable: Meet the postcard women in conversation with Dr Reem El Mutwalli in this special 90 min webinar.

About this event

Meet founder of the Imaginarium postcard project, artist and art historian Salma Ahmad Caller, and the artists, experts and researchers – Afsoon, Alia Derouiche Cherif, Hamida Zourgui, Hala Ghellali, and CritTeam’s Eugenia López Reus & Miguel Jaime, who all have been involved in the Making The Postcard Women’s Imaginarium project since 2018.
These artists each have personal histories entangled with the narratives of the Postcard Women. They have been making work in response to colonial postcards of women from the late 1800s and early 1900s that were posted from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe.
Their work challenges and questions the racial stereotypes that these postcards create, decolonises the lens, and takes a deep dive into the MENA region and cross-cultural legacies of heritage and adornment that make this archive so fascinating, important and problematic.
In reclaiming the Postcard Women these artists ask us to sit down and make ourselves uncomfortable by looking closely at how women from these regions have been constructed as marginalised, exoticised primitive ‘others’ and to now take the women out of the one-dimensional colonial space-time and re-contextualise them. And in so doing to interrogate not only the orientalist and colonial frames surrounding each woman but our own complicity in maintaining the hierarchical typology that these cards were part of instilling.
REGISTERING WILL GIVE YOU ACCESS TO THE 90 MINUTE LIVE SESSION, A RECORDED VERSION TO CATCH UP IN YOUR OWN TIME WHICH WILL BE SENT TO YOU WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER THE WEBINAR
OUR GUEST SPEAKERS:
Salma Ahmad Caller was born in Iraq to an Egyptian father and a British mother and grew up in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. She now lives in the UK. An artist, art historian and writer, Salma considers herself a disruptive body, a hybrid of cultures and faiths. Her work explores her mixed- race identity, cross-cultural experiences, text/image relationships and forms of embodiment, materiality and memory, drawing on personal intimate family histories and vulnerability as a way to destabilise larger narratives. Uncanny juxtapositions and hybrid forms are used to investigate how the private and political collide and intertwine, using techniques of collage, assemblage, drawing, watercolour, photography, projection, installation/sound and more recently film. Salma also writes art theory, poetry and creative non-fiction. Her theoretical background in research on the meanings of ornament in non-Western cultures through frameworks of anthropology of art and cognitive science/physiology, are used to decolonise and break down boundaries, categories, typologies and terminology that characterise hegemonic colonial and patriarchal formations. With a Masters in art history and art theory, and a background in medicine and pharmacology, and several years teaching cross-cultural ways of seeing via non-Western artefacts at Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, she now works as an independent artist and teacher.
https://www.salmaahmadcaller.com
Afsoon is an Iranian born, London based artist. She works predominantly in collage but has used various media such as linocut, watercolour, photography, ceramic, pastel and etching. She usually spends long periods researching her chosen subject to make pieces that often combine text with images while merging Occident and Orient ideas. Her work is humorous, playful and sophisticated and feels simultaneously familiar and foreign.
Afsoon has taken part in numerous solo and group shows, biennales and museum exhibitions. Her pieces can be found in prominent collections such as the British Museum, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum), and the Berger/YSL Collection.
www.afsoon.co.uk
Alia Derouiche Cherif is a visual artist born in 1969, who grew up in Tunis. In 1991, Alia obtained her MA in interior design, and in 1997 a doctorate in science techniques in arts at the University ITAAUT. She has been teaching fashion design for over 20 years and has participated in various key group exhibitions in Tunisia – Bardo museum, Alain Nadaud gallery, Musk & Amber gallery, Elbirou gallery, Effesto gallery, Le Cap gallery, City of Culture of Tunisia.
Alia’s outstanding solo exhibitions took place at the Musk & Amber Gallery Tunisia, in September 2018 and 2019, and again in October 2021. Her rich work collages together many layers of Tunisian cultural heritage both past and contemporary. Her painting fiercely reclaims ornamental techniques from Orientalist painting by asserting the complex meanings and cultural contexts of Islamic and multi ethnic Tunisian patterns and calligraphic forms.
CritTeam (Eugenia López Reus and Miguel Jaime) is an art-research duo that emerged in the UAE in 2013. Their work explores intersections of art, architecture and culture, questioning common notions of tradition, ornament, and identity. CritTeam’s work is rooted in both digital and traditional media such as photography, photo collage and drawing, which they expand to include theoretical writings, video, installations, and design proposals. Their practice explores post avant-garde discourses of colonialism, orientalism, modernism, and non-western ornamental art. They both hold PhDs in architectural design and have been educators and researchers at universities of Europe, America and the Middle East. Their work has been published and exhibited at various institutions in Europe and the Middle East such as the Sharjah Art Foundation (2016 & 2017), the University of Edinburgh (2017), The XIV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (Santander 2018), The 8th Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art WTA at Museum of Garment and Ethnologic Heritage Research Center (Madrid 2019), “The best design of the year” at Barcelona Design Museum DHUB (2021), among others. CritTeam has been nominated for the Art FAD Awards 2021 for best Artistic Creation by FAD’s Artists and Artisans’ Association. Since 2018 CritTeam is based in Barcelona.
Hamida Zourgui is a French-Algerian mixed media artist based in London. After completing her MA in art history and sociology she worked in museums and art spaces as a mediator and free lance art journalist. Growing up in France with an Algerian background has always played a major role in the construction of her identity, which then became the core and heart of her artistic expression. Hamida’s mixed media artwork focuses on the creation of bridges between her two cultures. Dual citizenship is echoed in the duality of references, and in the inspiration behind her themes and preoccupations. For Hamida her work is crucially an homage to colonised women and colonised bodies. Orientalism is a word anchored in her research, as it is often the only lens employed to represent/misrepresent Algerian women in art and imagery.
Hamida’s digital and analogue photographs are incorporated and transformed within collage works. These Arabic pop-art inspired transformations aim to narrate a new Algerian woman, giving her a renewed potent visual presence. Nostalgia, womanhood, and colonisation are three themes to constantly grapple with and reconcile with present realities of Algerian women.
As part of the Muslim female artists collective VariantSpace Hamida has had her work shown in London and New York. Her talks were an important part of the Pop Art from North Africa Collective exhibition at the P21 Gallery in London.
Hala Ghellali was born and grew up in Tripoli, Libya. She lived in France where she completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in comparative literature. After several years of teaching at the University of Tripoli, she lived in Italy, Egypt and Syria before settling in the USA. She is particularly interested in Libyan history, cultural heritage, vernacular poetry and the current art scene. Hala’s family ancestral connection to the art of weaving and traditional clothes has been a source of inspiration for her own research and work. Passionate about Libyan adornment and jewelry making, she has extensively researched its history, meanings and ties to neighboring countries. Her research and writing also embrace photography with a focus on orientalist photos and postcards made in local studios during the italian colonization. She has also co-curated an exhibit on jewelry and orientalist photos and postcards.
Her book on Libyan adornment and jewelry, the outcome of years of intensive research will soon be published.
FOUNDER OF THE ZAY INITIATIVE
Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli, is a published author, lead curator and public speaker. With over 30 years of experience, she is an expert consultant in Islamic art and architecture, interior design, historic dress and UAE heritage.
She is also the founder of the Zay Initiative. A non-profit UK registered initiative advancing the preservation of cultural heritage, through the collection, documentation and digital archiving of Arab historical attire and their stories. Our goal is to empower and sustain global cross-cultural dialogue to inspire creative minds.

Arab Street Food: Shawarma at the Pantry with Nadia Tommalieh
2022-09-21 18:00 - 21:00, 2022-09-22 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Across the Arab world, you’ll find variations on their most famous street food: shawarma. Traditionally cooked on a vertical spit that turns, shawarma is universally loved as a picnic spread, a main course, or an iconic street-food sandwich. In this class NADIA TOMMALIEH will show you everything you need to make shawarma wraps at home, starting with fresh-made saj bread. You’ll fill your warm bread with spiced and thinly sliced beef shawarma, tahini-based tarator sauce; batata harra (crispy cubed potatoes in a citrus cilantro sauce); avocado bil labaneh w za’atar (mashed avocado, jalapeno, yogurt, and Za’atar); and mkhalal left (pickled turnips).

This Is America – Johnny Gandelsman & Kinan Azmeh
2022-09-23 17:00 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
via livestream
Purchase Tickets
$10 Museum Members
$12 Students/Seniors
$15 General Public
Purchase Tickets for Livestream ($5)
Celebrating a 20-year friendship, violinist Johnny Gandelsman and clarinetist & composer Kinan Azmeh explore the sounds of their adopted home through music written by American and U.S.-based composers.
Meet Kinan and Johnny at artist-in-residence Amanda Ekery’s workshop, Songwriting: History, Memory and Understanding, taking place 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, the day before the concert! Musicians and workshop participants will be writing original music from prompts that require inquiry into their personal history under the guidance of Amanda. Free with RSVP; click here for more info!
Grammy award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman‘s musical voice reflects the artistic collaborations he has been a part of since moving to the United States in 1995. As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a former member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Gandelsman worked with many luminaries. Gandelsman integrates a wide range of creative sensibilities into a unique style amongst today’s violinists. Gandelsman has been producing records since starting his label, In a Circle Records, in 2008. In addition to “This Is America,” recent credits include Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein’s PBS documentary “The US and the Holocaust,” Silkroad Ensemble’s “Falling out of Time,” as well as Brooklyn Rider’s Grammy-nominated “Healing Modes” & “Spontaneous Symbols” (In a Circle Records). Photo credit: Marco Giannavola
Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based genre-bending composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh has been touring the globe with great acclaim as a soloist, composer and improviser. He is a Silkroad ensemble artist with whom he won a Grammy in 2016. Azmeh is a graduate of The Juilliard School, the Damascus High Institute of Music, and Damascus University’s School of Electrical Engineering, Azmeh holds a doctorate in music from the City University of New York. He is currently working on his first opera, Songs For Days To Come which will be premiered in June 2022 at The Osnabruck Theater, Germany. Photo credit: Liudmila Jeremies www.kinanazmeh.com
