This was the animating spirit of a live reading of the Experimental Issue of Mizna’s journal, in collaboration with Al Bustan Seeds of Culture. Six artists shared work, including contributions to the issue, introduced at Al Bustan’s Hub venue by Mizna director Lena Barkawi and Al Bustan director Mohannad Ghawanmeh, in partnership with the Radius of Arab-American Writers (RAWI).

Henna – Inscribing Restoration and Flourishing

The scent of herbs, flowers, and spices all at once, colliding in swirls that fall onto my hands, imprinting them with stories of the women who decorate my skin so exquisitely. That is henna.

The film Memory Box traces a path though sorrow, joy, regret and hope, in a blend of sound, image and word that invites viewers to make their own peace with the promise and peril of recalling.

“We all Meet in the Sky”: Lea Najjar’s Kash Kash Insists on Hope Amid Crisis in Lebanon