A 2019 nominee for Pittsburgh’s Mayor’s Award for Public Art, “Khūrākī” is a live cultural/culinary performances designed to challenge Americans’ perceptions about Afghanistan, while supporting a group of Afghan female refugees in their goal to start a collectively owned food business in Pittsburgh.

Created and written by RealTime’s Molly Rice in collaboration with the Afghan group, the show was directed by RealTime’s Rusty Thelin in four partner sites across Pittsburgh in Spring 2019. It was revived in March 2020 to celebrate the opening of the women’s business, Zafaron Afghan Cuisine (cancelled mid-run due to COVID). Versions have been produced at the University of Pittsburgh and PNC Bank, and a full production occured at Carnegie Mellon University in Spring 2021. The show is currently available to organizations, schools, and businesses interested in enhancing cultural understanding and welcoming our new Afghan neighbors.

Commissioned by the Office of Public Art, Khūrākī (“eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) celebrates the beauty of Afghanistan through theatrical portraits of five strong women who will forever be Afghan but have recently become Americans 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? And what do they want you to know about the beautiful land where they were born?