A series of Cultural/ Culinary/ Live-Art Events
CONCEIVED AND CREATED BY MOLLY RICE AND MEMBERS OF THE FEMALE AFGHAN REFUGEE COMMUNITY
DIRECTED BY RUSTY THELIN
RealTime Interventions and the Office of Public Art are pleased to announce the debut of “Khūrākī”, a series of four live cultural events created by artist Molly Rice in collaboration with a group of recently-resettled Afghan refugees in Pittsburgh. The events, directed by Rusty Thelin, include:
Program 1: New Year. Program 1 will center around traditions of the Afghan new year (Nowruz) and the women’s personal stories of home.
Saturday March 23, 2019, 7 – 9 PM at New Sun Rising, located at 112 E Sherman St in Millvale
Saturday, April 6, 2019, 7 – 9 PM at the Union Project, located at 801 N Negley Ave, Highland Park/ East Liberty
Program 2: Change and Permanence. Program 2 will focus on the ways Afghans mark life changes (birth, death, coming of age, marriage) as well as Ramadan traditions, again told through the women’s stories.
Monday, April 22, 2019, 7 – 9 PM at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, located at 4100 Bigelow Blvd in Oakland
Monday, May 6, 2019, 7 – 9 PM at Alphabet City, located at 40 W North Ave on the Northside
Audiences are limited to 50 per night. Tickets are free, but a $20 donation is suggested. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will go to the women of the Pittsburgh Afghan community to support their efforts to develop a food-based business.
In order to introduce Afghan culture and food to people from all over the city, a limited number of tickets will be reserved for residents of each neighborhood in which Khūrākī takes place. To reserve these seats, contact RealTime with “Neighborhood Tickets” as the subject line.
Please visit the following sites to reserve tickets:
Khūrākī: Northside (Alphabet City, May 6): TBA
RealTime is committed to making our events welcoming and comfortable for everyone. Sites for Programs 1 and 2 are wheelchair-accessible. Please contact us to let us know what accommodations we can make to ensure your experience is positive.
ABOUT KHŪRĀKĪ:
Commissioned by the Office of Public Art as part of their Artists in Residence program* and supported by Pittsburgh’s refugee resettlement community and many other partners, Khūrākī (meaning “eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) will celebrate the beauty of Afghan culture, music, and food through “theatrical portraits” of five strong women who will forever be Afghan but have recently become Pittsburghers as well. What do they miss about their homeland? What have they been able to preserve in the flight from home–in their traditions, in their cooking, in their hearts? What do they hope to cultivate here in Pittsburgh? And what do they want you to know about the beautiful country where they were born?
For the events, professional actors chosen by the women themselves will represent each woman, telling their stories while the women gain experience cooking Afghan dishes together for the audience, in service to their central goal: to open the first Afghan food business in Pittsburgh. The cast includes Tressa Glover, Alex Manalo, Krystal Rivera, Kelly Trumbull, and Ashley Loren Williams.
Each performance will feature Afghan food prepared by the women, Afghan-inspired music (arranged and performed by graduate music students from Carnegie Mellon University) and moments of immersive cultural experience.
For more background on the project, please visit our news section.
Partners
In addition to the Office of Public Art, our extraordinary partners for this project include: Becky Johnson, Refugee Resettlement consultant; NAMS Community Assistance and Refugee Resettlement Department (closed Dec. 2018); the City of Pittsburgh’s Welcoming Pittsburgh initiative and the Department of City Planning; La Dorita Kitchen Share; the Graduate music students of CMU’s Audience Engagement class, taught by Director of Music Enterpreneurship Monique Mead and Jennie Dorris; New Sun Rising; The Union Project; The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh; City of Asylum; Jen Saffron, owner/ operator of Sprezzatura Catering; Pixelab Studios; Point Park University Theater and Cinema Departments; Allegheny County Department of Human Services; Shehady’s Carpets and Rugs; and the Afghan community of Pittsburgh.
We hope to see you at our most delicious RealTime Intervention yet.
And we hope you’re hungry.
*Office of Public Art residencies are produced with support by the City of Pittsburgh, The Fine Foundation, The Buhl Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Opportunity Fund, Pittsburgh Partners for the Arts, and the Our Town program of the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional funding support has been provided by a Community Development Block Grant and Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts.
Banner design: Allie Reefer.