was meeting a dear friend i hadn’t seen for too long at Spot Coffee, when two other friends *spotted* us from a window and we ended up having a lovely get together. we talked about machado de assis and the african undergirding of american languages, satirical writing and its subversive function, rentals in colombia, the best pupusas in central america, and much much more. this is why i love rochester!
after the screening of “pinkwashing exposed: seattle fights back” today at the little theatre.
with the beautiful lebanese-palestinian actress hana chamoun, who was here in rochester to talk about her film “3000 nights.” the film opened the witness palestine film series at the little theatre today. the festival continues. pls join us: www.WitnessPalestineRochester.org
saw merged IV today, a blend of dance, music and film at Kilbourn Hall The Eastman School Of Music. it’s part of the Rochester Fringe Festival. the first piece “continuum of solace” is choreographed by heather roffe to “continuum,” a captivating musical score written by jane antonia cornish for string instruments, and played live on stage. cornish describes the piece as connecting time, tides, and place. it is so full of longing, it’s impossible not to be moved. this yearning for connection is visualized with lyrical dance choreography. dancers unite to support and lift one another only to unlink. the stage is partly lit and imbues them with the delicate quality of renaissance sculpture. so beautiful.
the second piece “dust” is choreographed by james hansens and inspired by the homily “if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake the dust from your feet when you leave the house.” he’s contemporized it to reflect the current political climate in america.
“reflections” choreographed by roffe, is a collaboration with filmmaker Johannes Bockwoldt and includes both dance and film. how appropriate that it’s on the subject of intersectionality. johannes interviewed local artists, innovators and mavericks to talk about their work, their passions, their vision for the world (including yours truly) and then intercut the footage in a most dynamic way.
the last piece is choreographed by hansens to jeff buckley’s music including “lilac wine” (i’m obsessed by nina simone’s interpretation but this was also amazing). all in all, a brilliant evening. you can still experience it on sept 19 and 20, at 7pm, at kilbourn hall. don’t miss it!
wonderful interview with miko peled this morning. thank u rajesh barnabas for partnering with me on this project. so miko is not only a compelling writer/activist but also a really warm and accessible human being. we will edit the footage soon and share the interview on social media and on the Witness Palestine Rochester page. pls do not miss this chance to hear him speak and meet him. historic german house (315 Gregory St, Rochester, NY) at 7pm. it’s free and bound to be extremely thought provoking! see u then!
Acclaimed Israeli writer Miko Peled is coming to Rochester! He has written “The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine” and he has travelled extensively, giving talks about his experiences to audiences across the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany and Switzerland. You can see him for free at the Historic German House [315 Gregory St, Rochester, NY 14620] on Sept 15 at 7:00 pm. This will be the kick-off event for the Witness Palestine Film Festival 2016 – it’s co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace. Don’t miss it! More info at: www.WitnessPalestineRochester.org
On Wednesday, I went to see “Afghan War Rugs: The Modern Art of Central Asia” at the Memorial Art Gallery along with my parents and my daughter. The exhibition “brings to the United States, for the first time, examples from distinguished private collections of Afghan war rugs. The artists who wove them, mostly women, abandoned their traditional nonfigurative styles to produce rich pictorial images that recount a more current cultural story. Maps, weapons, army tanks, and portraits of kings, khans, and military leaders are among the new motifs that began appearing in otherwise traditional carpets in the 1970s and proliferated after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and again following the post-September 11 intervention by the United States.”
I was particularly interested in this exhibition because “war rugs” are featured in my first film The Muslims I Know, when we talk about the channeling of money and weapons into Afghanistan in the 1980s by Saudi Arabia and the US, through the Pakistani military regime, in order to push back the Soviets.
The exhibit shows the evolution of themes and patterns in rug weaving from helicopters appearing earlier on as semi machine, semi tulip-like flower, grenades arranged into a regular rug motif along with Cyrillic text, to completely modern cityscapes and powerful political statements about American drones and military violence (weapons being parceled out of Uncle Sam’s hat).
As we were leaving the exhibit, talking about unending war in Afghanistan and its seepage into culture and day to day life, my mom made a good point. She found it offensive for Americans to have funded a war in Afghanistan, ignored the civil war that followed, then installed their own brutal occupation, only to indulge in analyzing the impact of this decades-long violence through art exhibits like these. Indeed.
earlier this year, i took part in an important discussion about the need for diversity in the arts (and so much more) along with Rachel Y. DeGuzman and Thomas Warfield, on Carol White Llewellyn’s thoughtful show Conversations with Creatives. here it is.
Diversity in the Arts, Part 1 from CAROL WHITE LLEWELLYN on Vimeo.
Diversity in the Arts, Part 2 from CAROL WHITE LLEWELLYN on Vimeo.
so excited to be a part of this discussion on aug 18th. thx rachel!
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Join the American Association of University Women: Greater Rochester Area (NY) Branch, 21st Century Arts, Up Close and Cultural, and PeaceArt International for the 2nd of a series of timely and candid conversations about issues of race and inclusion in the arts and cultural sector – moderated by the event’s executive producer, Rachel DeGuzman. More here.
ammi abbu having lunch at the towpath cafe in fairport today.
Last weekend we attended Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park and were regaled with fantastic music by Bombino, a Tuareg guitarist and singer-songwriter from Niger, and by Femi Kuti, a Nigerian musician who’s the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. It was a hot summer day but the concert started later in the evening, when the sun’s harsh heat had begun to settle down. It was a free community event attended by an amazing crowd of diverse people – every possible color, culture, accoutrement, age group and dancing style was duly represented. As I looked around, I saw a vast and happy slice of humanity, fixated on a single idea – to lose themselves in the energetic beat of the music. I couldn’t help smiling and thinking to myself how this is the kind of world we should all be living in. Thx Aliya apa for clueing us in 🙂
haha! this was in 2005, 11 years ago. thx APAA (Asian/Pacific Islander/American Association of Greater Rochester) for producing the documentary “identity through art,” which included this interview. it was a prelude to much film and art making for me and a definitive divergence from finance and economics.
Clips from my interview for the doc “Identity Through Art” directed by Rehema Trimiew and produced by APA-Hip, 2005.
last night, shakespeare in the park, i.e. highland park in rochester (also designed by frederick law olmsted). the production was a colorful, fast-paced, punk-inspired take on “romeo and juliet” – not to my 16-year old daughter’s liking (she’s a purist who knows much of the play by heart) but i thought it was great fun. loved the diversity of the cast (Shakespeare Players of Rochester) and found chris peterkin, who played romeo, to be particularly wonderful. great set and lighting. some high-octane music. popcorn, soda, and an enthusiastic audience seated comfortably in folding chairs or lounging on blankets. a great evening!
today fancy milkshakes at honeoye falls distillery and then tea in the garden at a lovely friend’s house.
spent time with the wonderful annu palakunnathu matthew today who’s been interviewing and photographing families in rochester for her project “open wound: stories of partition.” she’s already worked with indian families and wanted to include pakistani voices as well. so many parallels between her work and mine. pls check out her gorgeous photo animations here.
