Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim / In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful
Storycollector and storyteller
I collect stories and I tell stories, generating from the in-between space of an insider-outsider, in pursuit of a sweet spot. My approach is a hybrid of pathways to recollect memory and nostalgia through written word, personalized soundscape and the rehearsal of cultural choreographies. Physical re-creation of rituals and traditions serves as both the source of my texts and the site of performance allowing the viewer to participate in my experience and with their own.
Centering (my) queer Muslim identity as both an obstacle and a breakthrough, my current work examines collective memory. How do the traditions born from and blended with immigrant and first generation families in the US grow and transform? These new rites of passages are actively being constructed within the context of new geographies, longing, nostalgia, and the memories of our former homelands. These necessary transformations further complicate our connections to self, one another, and home.
Project / Burial Project
— Afghan raised in New York City
My form and style is rooted within Afghanistan’s oral traditions of story collecting, storytelling, poetry, and prose. Our creativity was borne out of necessity: traversing self-expression, speaking ourselves into voids, love’s joys, war and loss, levity and an expression of, for and about survival.
Project / Coming Out Muslim
I’m also a sexuality educator and trainer
Currently creating third culture adornments
Currently working on Loveprint, a collective memoir exploring my family’s inherited blueprint for love
My work shares a common thread: the new rites of passages that are borne from and within blended newcomer/immigrant and first generation families. Even in the midst of resistance and loss, we are actively co-constructing within the context of new geographies, longing, and the nostalgia of our former homelands, further complicating our connections to one another and self.
