Workshops that bring together embodiment practices, art, and self-determination
As an artist and facilitator, I care deeply about helping people tune into their own embodied knowledge to foster connection between personal and political transformation. In my own life and practice, I have seen how sensitizing ourselves to the unique wisdom of our bodies and being in spaces that uncover unacknowledged narratives leads to fuller experiences of who we are. I see this as the foundation for decolonizing ourselves and being attentive to the ways we can embody or bring about the changes we want to see in the world. With skillful curiosity and care, I combine practices like meditation, movement, and art to unleash this potential in the groups and individuals that I work with.
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Greatly influenced by Deepa Iyer’s graphic of the different roles that lead to change
Some of the work I have done:
Led group meditative movement and drawing activities to foster somatic connection and belonging, countering unrecognized bipoc histories.
Erie Arts and Culture workshop with local creatives explored movement, drawing, and a story circle about local history and belonging.
Iteru workshop at Arab American National Museum, MI brought together creative writing, a story circle, sensory drawing, and movement.
Segment of a collective poem at the museum
Community opening for participatory anti-war monument in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Created participatory installations mapping out experiences and nonlinear stories of collective trauma and resilience, with refugees, im/migrants and war veterans critical of their time in combat.
Detail of participatory anti-war monument
Jumana’s writing about her family legacy, as Lebanese immigrants to the U.S.
Designed art workshops with flexible mediums, like watercolor and bilingual creative writing, to guide people through their experiences of belonging or dislocation in immigrant and refugee communities.
Painting to the prompts: “What have you lost? What have you gained?” in immigrating.
Participatory installation at Brooklyn Academy of Music, integrating people’s responses to “What freedoms do we need to protect?” ahead of the 2016 election
Designed one-day public interactive events, catalyzing creative responses to pressing social issues and generating group art.
Just one of the poignant responses from a member of the former Young Lords
The form before people’s responses were added
People’s responses layered into the form
Founded and led creative arts curricula to bring out kids’ personal stories of identity and build confidence and inclusion.
In addition to working for a decade in various institutions like public schools and museums all over NYC, I founded and ran an arts empowerment program called RASMI for 3 summers.
Kids explore different materials to tell their stories of identity.
The first RASMI program focused on self-portraiture through painting