Kunafa and Shay Live: Possibilities for Affinity Spaces with MENA/SWANA and LGBTQIA+ Artists
Moderated by podcast co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson
Speakers: Evren Odcikin, Andrea Assaf, Sara Razavi, Feras Hilal
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Affinity spaces have been an undercurrent of discussion across the three seasons of the Kunafa & Shay Theatre Podcast. In Season 3, we especially focus on queer MENA and SWANA affinity spaces - their benefits and complications. In this live session at the 2023 MENATMA Convening at Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco and in partnership with Mizna+RAWIfest, Marina and Nabra sit down with leaders and artists to discuss the nuances of MENA and SWANA affinity spaces today and MENATMA, Mizna, and RAWI's roles in facilitating national cultural affinity among artists of intersectional identities. In the room where change is being made, we define and redefine affinity spaces in a post-pandemic, complex, and intersectional MENA/SWANA theatre atmosphere.
Evren Odcikin, director, writer and arts leader;
Andrea Assaf, performer, director, cultural organizer,Artistic/Executive Director, Art2Action, Inc., member of RAWI;
Sara Razavi, actor, director;
Feras Hilal, writer, performer, member of RAWI.