Al-Bustan is pleased to present (DIS)PLACED: Philadelphia‘s culminating showcase event, inviting friends, partners, and the public to enjoy an evening of poetry, music, art, food, and friendship. Master of Ceremonies Denise Valentine will guide us through the event as we premiere a booklet of poetry by Nazem El Sayed and CD of compositions by Kinan Abou-afach. View a sample of new work here!
Time: 4:00 – 6:30 PM
4:00 – 5:15 pm: Poetry by Nazem El Sayed • Film by Dave Tavani • Artwork inspired by Buthayna Ali • Light Fare
5:15 – 6:30 pm: World Premiere of “Of Roads and Homes” by composer Kinan Abou-afach, featuring:
Issam Rafea – oud • Kinan Abou-afach – cello • Hafez Kotain – percussion • Shannon Lee – violin • Veronica Jurkiewicz – viola • Ken Ulansey – clarinet • Matt Engle – bass • Denise Valentine – narration
Location: Trinity Center for Urban Life – 22nd and Spruce St, Philadelphia
Tickets: $20 in Advance | $25 at the Door | $10 for Students with ID
Ages 10+
About (DIS)PLACED: Philadelphia | Expressions of Identity in Transition
(DIS)PLACED: Philadelphia is an initiative of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture exploring the theme of displacement across Philadelphia’s diverse communities and from the perspectives of four artists-in-residence of Arab heritage. Over the span of 18 months, the project is engaging the public through storytelling, music performances, poetry readings, visual art, and community forums. Watch an array of videos about the project on YouTube!
About Artists-In-Residence
Nazem El Sayed. Born in Lebanon, Nazem El Sayed completed his Bachelors degree in Arab Literature from the Lebanese University. He has four published collections of prose poetry in Arabic and his work is included in several anthologies. He is the 10th of 11 siblings, born to illiterate parents in the year the Lebanese civil war broke out. Arabic linguistic tradition is an important part of Nazem’s work; as he notes, he remembers picking up shrapnel and empty bullet shells to resell, he remembers showing talent as a footballer, but mostly he remembers his family’s orally transmitted verses and the long pre-Islamic classics known as al-mu’alaqat. Nazem is one of the 39 Arab writers under 40 who were selected for the UNESCO-sponsored anthology Beirut 39. He is currently a scriptwriter and producer at Alhurra TV, an Arabic satellite television network for the Middle East based in the Washington DC area.
Kinan Abou-afach. Born in Damascus, Kinan Abou-afach is a cellist, oud player, and composer currently based in Philadelphia. He is a recipient of the 2013 Pew Fellowship in the Arts for his exemplary talent as a performer and composer. He moved to Chicago in 2000 where he completed his Masters degree in Cello Performance at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago. As a composer, Kinan writes music that is influenced by Eastern and Western traditions. Several of his recent compositions were commissioned by Al-Bustan, notably: “Roads to Damascus” with visual artist Kevork Mourad premiered in February 2013; {De}perception with digital artist Ayman Alalao premiered in May 2015, “Of Night of Solace: Fantasia on Andalusian Muwashshah Poetry” premiered in December 2015, and “Nur: One Breath, One Soul” premiered in April 2016.
eL Seed. Born to a Tunisian family in France, eL Seed is an artist whose works incorporate traditional Arabic calligraphy, a style he calls ‘calligraffiti.’ His art was born on the streets of Paris, and now adorns walls across every continent. Incorporating elements of graffiti and Arabic calligraphy, eL Seed is known for his unique style which uses intricate composition to call not only on the words and their meaning, but also on their movement and response to a particular site and context. His art appears on the walls of many cities, from Paris, London, New York, to Doha, Jeddah, and Melbourne, in addition to his home country Tunisia.
Buthanya Ali. Born and raised in Damascus, currently, Buthayna teaches studio art as a faculty member in the School of Fine Arts at University of Damascus. As an artist, Buthayna’s work focuses on her milieu and its inconsistencies. She uses abstraction to bring her audience closer to the work. Thematically, she focuses on contradictions in society and nation states. Using images, signs and objects, she critiques the socio-political dimensions of imposed cultural conventions. By using abstraction she is trying to bring her audience closer to the work and in order to create opportunities for audience interactions.
Al-Bustan invited Buthayna Ali for an artist residency in summer 2017 to create new work in Philadelphia. However, confusion about President Trump’s travel ban stymied her application for a visa to America.
Major support for (DIS)PLACED project is provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Additional support by Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, William Penn Foundation, and Samuel Fels Fund.
