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Dorian Paul Rogers, Salem Al Attas & Maryam Alshehhi talk about Rooftop Rhythms and how it aims to add life and positive energy in to the UAE community with culturally-appropriate performance arts and nightlife concepts.Rooftop Rhythms was founded in March 2012 by award-winning poet and educator, Dorian Paul Rogers, Ed. D. What started as a poetry open mic night in Abu Dhabi quickly grew into a variety of community-based culture, arts, and nightlife event offerings.Created & hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikraEdited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/About the afikra Conversations:Our long-form interview series features academics, arts, and media experts who are helping document and/or shape the history and culture of the Arab world through their work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with newfound curiosity - and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into headfirst. Following the interview, there is a moderated town-hall-style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience on Zoom. Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp FollowYoutube - Instagram (@afikra_) - Facebook - Twitter Support www.afikra.com/supportAbout afikra:afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com
The Dubai Wave Podcast’s epic Season 3 continues with a rare world exclusive! For the second episode of the new season, we are thrilled to present our exclusive conversation with two of Dubai’s most influential and iconic artists, eL Seed and Afra Atiq!Produced by Dr. Spencer Striker, Digital Media Professor at the American University in Dubai, the show is created with the help of a talented student production team at AUD.About eL SeedBorn in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed travels the world, making art in Paris, New York, Jeddah, Melbourne, Gabes, Doha and beyond. His goal: to create dialogue and promote tolerance as well as change global perceptions of what Arabic means. In 2012, for instance, he painted a message of unity on a 47-meter-high minaret on the Jara mosque in Gabes, Tunisia. This piece and others can be found in his book, Lost Walls: Graffiti Road Trip through TunisiaRecently he created a sprawling mural in the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood of Cairo that spans 50 buildings and can only be viewed from a local mountaintop. Intending to honor the historic garbage collectors of the Manshiyat Naser neighborhood, the piece reads, "Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first."“A street artist born in Paris to Tunisian parents, eL Seed did not learn to read or write Arabic until his late teens, but when he did his renewed interest in his heritage had a profound effect on his art.” — BBCAbout Afra AtiqAfra Atiq is an Emirati award-winning poet, having recently won the 2017 ADMAF Creativity Award. She is the first spoken word poet to win the award. Afra has been featured on several platforms across the globe. She proudly gives back to her community through mentorships and workshops with Untitled Chapters (a thriving hub for Emirati women writers).She has been a featured performer/speaker at platforms like TEDxFujairah, Step Music Festival, NYUAD Arts Center, Sheraa, as well as at numerous universities and schools. Afra was named Best Performer for 2015-16 by Rooftop Rhythms and has won multiple poetry slams and competitions.As a scholar, Afra has recently been published in the International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences and conducted social research pertaining to literature and education.About the Dubai Wave PodcastThe concept with Dubai Wave is to look at big picture Dubai. Each episode focuses on a unique topic, such as Dubai Fitness; Dubai Social Media; Dubai Food Scene; Dubai Music, etc., with the goal to illuminate a 360-degree viewpoint of all the exciting things happening here, the gem of the Middle East. The impressive guest list to date includes the founder of Dubai’s most influential MMA gym, Tam Khan (Dubai MMA); successful entrepreneur, Anas Bukhash (Dubai Entrepreneurship); the editor of What’s On Dubai, Laura Coughlin (Dubai Magazines); the host of Virgin Radio Dubai, Brent Black, (Dubai Radio); and the first Emirati filmmaker to achieve International acclaim and standing, Ali F. Mostafa, (Dubai Film). Previously, Dr. Striker, with help from talented Digital Media and MBRSC students, launched a successful podcast called Digital Media & Tech in Dubai, focused on the Dubai tech industry, with eight episodes to date, featuring some of Dubai’s most exciting digital thought leaders. Hosted by:Spencer Striker, PhD, Digital Media professor at the American University in Dubaihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerstriker& Shoug Al Sayegh, Digital Media Student at AUDSpecial Guests:eL Seed:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elseed.artistWiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL_SeedOfficial website: https://elseed-art.com/Afra Atiq:Official Website: https://www.afraatiq.com/100 Smartest People in the UAE: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/lists/379338-100-smartest-people-in-the-uae-35afra-atiqTED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2AeDs8ljvwProduced by: Sarbjyoti SahniEdited by:Abdullah Abu Shameh, AUD Digital Media studentAudio engineering by:AUD Digital Media’s own Anil Mathew JamesSpecial thanks to the AUD Marcom Team.
Afra Atiq was named Best Performer for 2015-16 by Rooftop Rhythms, and won the 2017 ADMAF Creativity Awards. She proudly gives back to her community through mentorships and workshops with Untitled Chapters (a thriving hub for Emirati women writers). As a scholar, Afra has recently been published in the International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences and conducted social research pertaining to literature and education. During our conversation we discussed the challenges of public speaking and practical tips to overcome them (spoiler alert: "winging it" doesn't work). We looked at the creative process and how living in a cultural melting pot like Dubai can feed it. Afra shared why everyone's unique story counts, and must be told in your authentic voice. We finish this episode with a live studio performance of one of Afra's favourite poems. If you would like to follow Afra Atiq on social media, you can do so on Twitter @a_afra and Instagram @afraatiq.
Kathleen and Marion were so blown away by Rooftop Rhythms, the well-respected spoken word event held at NYUAD, we asked its host Dorian Paul Rogers to sit down with PBQ and talk about poetry, performance, and creating one of the liveliest poetry scenes we've ever seen. Learn about the world of spoken word poetry in the United Arab Emirates, the tricky project of curating the series, and roots of Dorian's faith in the transformative powers of spoken word. Marion's interview with Dorian is the second in a 2-part series celebrating Rooftop Rhythms. Check out the first episode here. For more information on Dorian: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-31986646/working-lives-uae-arts-impresario https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/welcome-to-rooftop-rhythms-abu-dhabi-s-poetry-scene-1.633366 For more information on Salem el Attas (one of the poets who read at the event we saw) https://man.vogue.me/entertainment/interviews/emirati-slam-poet-salem-al-attas-something-say/ Production Engineer: Joe Zang
If you’ve tuned into recent episodes of Slush Pile, you’ve more likely than not heard Kathleen raving over her time visiting Marion in Abu Dhabi.From another windowless university office, this time at the NYUAD writing program, we produced this special episode of Slush Pile. Kathleen and Marion talk about their time together in Abu Dhabi: the pink desert, the early morning camel ride, the quick dip in the Gulf, the amazing classes, and spoken word poetry in the United Arab Emirates. As we say, we really never know whether or not these episodes are going to be published sequentially, and in this episode, Kathleen mentions an amazing experience she had in class that she and Marion co-taught. “Maybe we’ll talk about it on another episode,” she said, and if you tuned into Episode 44: Fairy Dust Watches and John Bonham, you know exactly what she’s talking about! If you didn’t, listen into the episode here! Rooftop Rhythms is a huge open mic event on NYUAD’s campus. It's hosted by the remarkable Dorian Paul Rogers (who joined us for an interview that will be featured on an upcoming episode). Listen to poetry by emerging and established poets from Yemen, Sudan, Philippines, and the UAE who gather for a monthly event that packs the house at NYUAD with an equally diverse crowd. Please enjoy these excerpts from poets Hibba Rasheed, Salem Attas, Shammah al Bustaki, Danielle Gramby, Seb Eubanks, Aamtha, and Logan. Present in this Episode: Kathleen Volk Miller Marion Wrenn Rooftop Rhythms Readers Production Engineer: Joe Zang