#hakawati

by Hannah Khalil

It’s official! 🎙 The #LittleSyria show will be premiering in #Brooklyn this May thanks to @nifmuhammad & the good ppl of @bam_brooklyn. 🤲🏼 The last & only time this material was ever performed live was at the @kennedycenter in 2019, so @thanksjoey, @ronniemalley & I can’t wait to bring this project (& the #ArabAmerican stories it honors) back to life for y’all through poetry, rap, Arabic music, #Hakawati-style oration & big 3ammo energy. 🧿 Grab your tickets today (link in bio) & while you’re at it check out the incredible lineup #BAMbrooklyn has in store for y’all this year … I honestly can’t believe my name is on a bill with so many of these brilliant artists. 💫 Alhamdulillah forever(ything). https://www.instagram.com/p/CZNADOpudt5/?utm_medium=tumblr

Years ago I decided that if I were to perform in front of a seated audience, I’d rather be seated myself. 🪑 It felt like a more intimate / comfortable way to connect with people — especially the kinds of community + activist + academic + spiritual spaces I increasingly found myself in (plus I’m old & tired fam let’s be real) ... Didn’t realize it then but I was making it easier for attendees of different ages / linguistic backgrounds to understand the lyrics I took so much time to craft, while simultaneously / subconsciously summoning the “#Hakawati” atmosphere of Old #Damascus to build intergenerational community. ☕️ Fast forward to 2020 & I find myself regularly performing from my studio chair at virtual “concerts” where we are all sitting at home & longing for the kinds of communal connections once had in person. 🎙 Yesterday I had the honor of performing for two wonderful #Muslim #American organizations — the #AmericanMuslim Community Foundation @amuslimcf & the Risala Foundation @risalafoundation — each representing different aspects of #Islam to me in a beautiful way: 1) Social Justice / Civic Engagement / Strategic Philanthropy & 2) Spirituality / Art / Poetry / Mysticism. 🤲🏼 Much love to all the speakers / panelists / performers who included the likes of @hasanminhaj, @margari.hill, @jmashouf, @ieashaprime, @yasguru, @mesutkurtisofficial, @farahsiraj, @alisethiofficial & many more. 🤍Also a huge, heartfelt thank you to #MrsOffendum who kept the kids from beating the door down while I performed for the laptop lens (repping the beautiful, new “University of #Palestine” shirt by @dar.collective — 1000 shukr). Alhamdulillah for every single everything. 🧿 #Sinsyrianly — #OmarOffendum. https://www.instagram.com/p/CHobWAjh3SD/?igshid=1wyd85rxey6qe

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Set amidst the backdrop of the fabled #LittleSyria neighborhood in #NYC (1880-1940), this unique performance project bridges #HipHop & live #Arabic instrumentation with the time-honored #Hakawati storytelling traditions of the #Levant. MC / #Poet #OmarOffendum (#Syria via LA) is joined by #Oud virtuoso @ronniemalley (#Palestine via #Chicago) & #beatmaker @thanksjoey (Syria via Brooklyn), to uncover what life in the heart of #Arab-#America was like over a century ago; while informing much of what is (still) happening today in terms of #immigration, #xenophobia, Syria & the ever-evolving notion of an “#American dream”. 📺 Watch the 12-min medley / teaser (link in bio) that was presented at the annual #ArtsSummit in #WashingtonDC on April 29, 2019 (link in bio), concluding #Offendum's #CitizenArtist Fellowship with The John F. @kennedycenter for the Performing Arts. 📸 @ridzdesign. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RlGNPBMcr/?igshid=gt99lp2sog67