Upcoming Events

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Artistry & Resistance: Experiments in Palestinian American Artmaking

Wednesday, December 4

4:00 PM - 5:30 PM EST

Haven Hall 3512

505 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 

Artmaking is always an experiment– a testing of possibilities meant to create new meanings or forms and/or to teach audiences new ways of looking. Artistic experiments also often re-imagine pre-existing forms and histories and bring these into new spaces or moments in time. This roundtable brings together artists working in film, dance, and sound whose experimentations focus on bringing attention to important themes of Palestinian life, joy, and resistance.​​​​​

 

Participating artists include Wael Buhaissy, Umayyah Cable, Leila Mire, and Leyya Mona Tawil. Moderated by Clare Croft, Daring Dances curator and Associate Professor of American Culture

 

Co-sponsored by the Arab American and Muslim American Studies program, Arab.AMP ARAB.Amp, the Arab American National Museum, Daring Dances, and the Global Islamic Studies Center.

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ARTIST BIOS

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Wael Buhaissy, Founder and Artistic Director of Al Juthoor 

Wael Buhaissy was born and raised in Kuwait to Palestinian parents from Gaza. He immigrated to the US in 1989, and soon after found himself creating a life in the Bay Area.  He graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and currently works in the field of radiation oncology and medical devices. Wael co-founded the Al Juthoor dabke troupe in 2006, and became the lead choreographer in 2008.  Under Wael’s direction, Al Juthoor of the Arab Diaspora has appeared throughout the Bay Area at benefits, protests, schools, and cultural events.  They have also taken to the theater stage at events such as the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Golden Threads Theater, and have been hosted by Dance Mission Theater, La Pena Cultural Center, East Side Arts Alliance, and TAC Temescal Art Center.  Wael is also a self-taught oudist and dumbek player, and was a member of the Aswat Ensemble from 2010-2012 as a vocalist.  

 

Umayyah Cable, filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Arab American/Muslim American Studies & American Culture

Umayyah Cable (they/them/their) is assistant professor of American culture and film, television, and media at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. They have a BA in American studies from Smith College and a PhD in American studies & ethnicity from the University of Southern California, as well as a graduate certificate in visual studies from the USC Visual Studies Research Institute. Their research and teaching interests span the fields of race and ethnic studies, film and media studies, anti-colonial studies, and queer theory, with a particular focus on the roles that art, film, and media play in the mobilization of Palestine solidarity politics in the United States. Their research has been supported through fellowships at Northwestern University and Harvard University.

 

Leila Mire, PhD candidate of Performance Studies at UC Berkeley and member of Al Juthoor 

Leila Mire (she/her/hers) is a choreographer, dancer, researcher, curator, community organizer, educator, and writer. She is currently studying to receive her PhD in Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley where she researches how dance is co-opted, appropriated, and performed for imperial interests, particularly as it pertains to Palestine and its occupation. Mire also has an MA in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch and a BFA in Dance Performance from George Mason University. She has performed with various dance companies and has created solo work supported through a number of grants and fellowships such as Aseemkala Fellowship and the Young Alumni Commissioning Grant. She has been featured in publications like the New York Times and Washington Post and done public scholarship with groups like the Dance Union and Dancer’s Group . Currently she dances with Al-Juthoor, a dabke troupe in Oakland, CA, organizes with Students for Justice in Palestine and the Arab Resources and Organizing Center, is a Palestine Solidarity Organizing Fellow through the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Vivan Las Autonomas, and Potency, and is this year’s recipient of the Michael Mansfield and Randy Sweringen Social Justice Award for Artistic Excellence in Creating a More Equitable and Inclusive World. For more information on her work or to get in touch, feel free to reach out via leilamiredance.com or @leila.posts on instagram.

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Leyya Mona Tawil, Creator of Lime Rickey International & Curator with the Arab American National Museum, Daring Dances, and Arab.AMP 

Leyya Mona Tawil [Lime Rickey International] is an artist working with sound, dance, and hybrid transmissions. Tawil is a Syrian, Palestinian, American engaged in the world as such. Her performance and social practice works have been commissioned throughout Europe, the Arab world, and the states. She is the founding director of Arab.AMP - a platform for experimental music, live art, and ideas from the SWANA diaspora and our allied communities. Tawil is on the curatorial team of the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn), Southern Exposure (SF), Daring Dances (Ann Arbor)​ and also directs TAC Temescal Art Center in Oakland, California.