A Benefit for Families & Musicians in Gaza
with La La Lil Jidar Collective, Nicki Kattoura, Huda Asfour + Farah Barqawi, Yaffa, Fatimah Asghar, Denice Frohman, Inma Zanoguera, and treya lam + Sound Sovereign and Tiny T-Bone (of Palestine Forever)
Threading NYC with West Philly; this evening brings together the voices of Palestinian writers, musicians and artists who have been stewarding a cultural front for the liberation of Palestine—together with SWANA voices and others whose struggles and solidarities are intertwined. cinemóvil nyc will open the evening with a screening of short film, “Electrical Gaza” (2015). La La Lil Jidar collective will introduce their exhibit "20 Years Behind The Apartheid Wall" to NYC and their myriad community activations that keep Gaza alive in West Philly. Then we will form a circle of live poetry, music and meditation to remember and honor martyred Palestinian poets and journalists, tend to the grief in our hearts while deepening our capacity to be in our bodies as we fight for a Free Palestine. The night will conclude with a poetry and music performance by NYC-based Palestinian artists: Huda Asfour & Farah Barqawi. Palestine Forever will offer a DJ set as we browse political art, zines and a curated reading list of Palestinian books for sale. All proceeds will directly support families and musicians in Gaza.
From NYC to West Philly, may this night be an offering that bridges our communities as we channel our creative aggression, solidarity & organizing until Palestine is free.
* We are completely SOLD OUT for in person. You can join our waitlist, or get a ticket for our livestream.**
**Event happening in Brooklyn, full location will be disclosed via email for ticket holders ** Doors open at 6:00pm. Program begins at 6:30pm.
Light refreshments provided.
For those unable to attend in person we will have a zoom live stream.
Covid Policy: Masks required, please test prior to arrival. Please do not attend if feeling sick.
Accessibility note: The venue is on the 4th floor, and does not have an elevator. For any access needs, please email cinemovil@riseup.net
✦Featured Artists✦
Farah Barqawi is a Palestinian author, performer, educator and a feminist organizer. Her poetry and essays have appeared in multiple languages on online platforms and different anthologies. In 2019, she produced and hosted a season of the Arabic podcast “Eib (Taboo)”. She wrote and performed her solo piece, “Baba, Come to Me.” She is a MFA candidate in Creative Writing at NYU where she teaches creative writing to undergraduates as well. @farah_barqawi_
Huda Asfour, is a Palestinian musician whose music, through the tenderness of her oud and the lyricism of her compositions, challenges taboos and stereotypes. A polymath with works in the fields of music, biomedical engineering, signal and image processing, and social work, she has toured the world and has released two studio albums: Mars, Back and Forth”(2011) and Kouni (2018). @hudasmusic
Nicki Kattoura is a Palestinian writer and editor. His writing has been featured in Mondoweiss, Palestine Studies, Middle East Eye,Them, and GQ Middle East. @nickikattoura
Mx. Yaffa is an acclaimed disabled, autistic, trans, queer, Muslim, and indigenous Palestinian who has received multiple awards for their transformative work around displacement & decolonization. Yaffa is the author of Blood Orange, a poetry collection about displacement, colonization, and hope building. @yaffasutopia
Fatimah Asghar is a poet, a fiction writer, and a filmmaker. Along with Safia Elhillo, they co-edited Halal If You Hear Me, an anthology for Muslim people who are also women, trans, gender non-conforming, and/ or queer. Their award-winning debut lyrical novel, When We Were Sisters was published in 2022. @asgharthegrouch
Denice Frohman is a poet and performer from New York City. A Pew Fellow and former Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, she’s received support from CantoMundo, Headlands Center for the Arts and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures. Recently, she debuted her one-woman show, Esto No Tiene Nombre, which centers the oral histories of Latina lesbian elders. She lives in Philadelphia. @denicefrohman
Inma Naïma Zanoguera is a PhD candidate of English at CUNY’s Graduate Center whose writings explore humanity’s resilience, particularly in the face of colonial oppression. As a former professional athlete, she works on projects related to sports and activism/community, primarily in the Sahrawi (Western Sahara) diaspora. @inmazanoguera
✦ Sonic Meditation ✦
treya lam is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer whose joyously complex identity informs but does not define their work, whether solo or when collaborating with a variety of ensembles. @treyalam
Sound Sovereign/Brown is a composer, vocalist, and former healing practitioner, whose work is rooted in sacred refuge, embodied decolonization, and restorative liberatory practice. @sound.emeraldearth
✦ DJ Set ✦
Tiny T-Bone is an artist, DJ, and nightlife worker based in NYC who draws influence from a variety of musical genres and her Lebanese and Moroccan roots.
She is a part of Palestine Forever, a budding collective in NYC formed out of the necessity to organize the nightlife community to support Palestine and Gaza and push back against apartheid, genocide, and settler-colonialism. @palestineforevernyc
✦Presented By✦
La La Lil Jidar – a chest-hitting exhibit at the intersection of art, activism, and archive that brings together the powerful narratives of Aisha Mershani’s archival photography that documents two decades of the Apartheid Wall in Palestine, Tracy Chahwan’s graphic renditions derived from Aisha’s photos for a street-art campaign, and an enriching, fortifying program of events aimed at keeping Gaza alive in our eyes, and in our minds. @lalaliljidar
cinemóvil nyc's screenings are radical sites of encounter often presented in non-theatrical spaces. We show a diverse array of films variously intended to agitate, enlighten, and spark rich dialogue. @cinemovil.nyc
Justseeds Artist Cooperative is a decentralized network of 41 artists committed to social, environmental, and political engagement. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. We have assembled hundreds of free graphics to use for Palestine solidarity work available on our website. @justseeds
✦ Co-Sponsored by ✦
Donations from friends in our community
Tierra Narrative – a film and literary production house dedicated to counternarratives from the Central American isthmus and its diaspora. Founded in 2017, we create, curate, and bolster contemporary work that gives shape to cultural memory in a transnational context. @tierranarrative
The Asian Pacific American Institute at NYU provides a space for the sharing of scholarship, art, activism, and other cultural and political exchanges about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in New York City and beyond.
Mama Papaya Film – an Immigrant led org(anism) dedicated to nurture and cultivate midwest QTBIPOC filmmakers who create generational change through visionary films.
Kultura Dyad emerged in 2021 as a nomadic curatorial initiative focused on crafting intentional artistic programming, and creating open and grounding spaces for Black and Brown bodies. Committed to collective liberation, our programming is designed to garner community respect and support while envisioning a more accessible future, unlocking collaboration opportunities and ensuring fair compensation for artists. arte. comunidad. justicia. @kulturadyad
Boundless Films
Thank you to Critical Resistance for providing us with Livestream support.
✦ Hosted by ✦
Ali Jaffery is an organizer, filmmaker, and curator. His work is concerned with revolutionary movements, and the production & contextualization of archival memory. He is the creator of cinemóvil nyc. @ali.i.j
Jess X Snow is a non-binary filmmaker, mural artist, poet and community organizer of the JiangXi Chinese diaspora whose body of work explores migration, kinships across cultures and species, and abolitionist futures. @jessxsnow
✦ A People's Palestine Reading List ✦
An incomplete reading list of books by Palestinian writers selected by some of our performers and organizers. These books were written as early as 1962 to the present day, and range from memoir, fiction, poetry and picture books, to the historical and theoretical, unveiling a myriad of Palestinian voices. In partnership with Mil Mundos Bookstore, these titles will be available for sale at the event and at their store on 323 Linden St in Bushwick.
Light in Gaza, Writings Born of Fire – multiple authors
Queering Palestine & The Empire of Critique – Sa'ed Atshan
BDS – The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights – Omar Barghouti
The Blue Light – Hussein Barghouthi
Among the Almond Trees, A Palestinian Memoir – Hussein Barghouthi
Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Picture Book) – Hannah Moushabeck
Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories – Ghassan Kanafani
Sharon and My Mother In Law, Ramallah Diaries – Suad Amiry, Penguin Randomhouse
Everything for Everyone – Eman Abdelhadi
Gaza Unsilenced - edited by Refaat Alareer
Rifqa by Mohammed el-Kurd
On Zionist Literature by Ghassan Kanafani
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
Mil Mundos Books is a bilingual bookstore and community center that curates to celebrate Black, Latinx, and Indigenous heritage. @milmundosnyc
Event Poster by Jess X. Snow | Featured Graphics by Erik Ruin, Zola MTL, Andrea Narno, Entangled Roots Press, Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, Eric Garcia, and Alec Icky Dunn | BDS Art Build Banners by Sarah Farahat
To download hundreds of graphics for use for Palestine solidarity work visit the justseeds website.
This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers with public funds from NYSCA.