Art & Culture
Art & Culture
Homecoming Festival returns strong after two years with a few changes, including a new location, and a mayor’s golf cart “chronicles”
August 10th, 20220 DEARBORN — This past weekend the 41st Homecoming Festival, an annual Dearborn tradition going back to the 80s, returned after a two-year hiatus. On his Facebook livestream this week, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud expressed his desire to see the festival return. “Given the pandemic, given the catastrophic flooding last year, I thought...
Arab Americans’ history in Indianapolis told in documentary
June 20th, 20220 A local professor spent the last few years documenting the history of Arab Americans in Indianapolis. WFYI’s Taylor Bennett spoke with Edward Curtis, chair of Liberal Arts and professor of religious studies in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, about the project — Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History — and why it was...
New book details the story of Arab Americans in Indianapolis
May 26th, 20220 Arab Indianapolis is an accessible, intimate look at the oft-neglected history of Arab Americans in Greater Indianapolis who have made a remarkable impact on the region since the late 1800s. Written by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Professor Edward E. Curtis IV, the 160-page Arab Indianapolis features the stories of...
National Arab Orchestra returns to Ann Arbor, featuring renowned singer Abeer Nehme in first Michigan appearance
March 8th, 20220 ANN ARBOR — The National Arab Orchestra (NAO) will be returning to Ann Arbor this year, featuring the renowned singer Abeer Nehme's first appearance in Michigan and the University Musical Society (UMS) Choral Union, Saturday March 19 at the Hill Auditorium. Organized by the UMS, this year’s program promises to take audiences on a...
Local authors pen book about Dearborn Heights serial killer
March 6th, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Local authors B. R. Bates and Dr. Gerald Cliff have released a book about a prolific serial killer who used to live in Dearborn Heights. On Jan. 2, 2000, Dearborn Heights police were called to the Rouge River after John Eric Armstrong claimed he had felt nauseated and attempted to vomit in the river when he...
Artist who worked on the Islamic Center of America returns to Dearborn to continue his artwork
February 26th, 20220 DEARBORN — The Lebanese artist of Armenian origin behind the painting of more than a dozen mosques and churches globally has returned to Dearborn to continue to share his work. Born in 1973, Haroutioun “Harout” Isack Bastajian has always had a passion for art. “I spent a lot of time in my childhood in the remote...
Mayor Hammoud to join the Dearborn Symphony as narrator for Peter and the Wolf
February 23rd, 20220 DEARBORN — Mayor Abdullah Hammoud will be joining the Dearborn Symphony as he narrates an event called "Mozart Meets Peter and the Wolf." Hammoud will be added to the list of historic narrators of this piece, including Viola Davis, Alice Cooper and Boris Karloff. During his narration, Hammoud will be responsible for placing...
Our immigrant nation is a big tent for everyone
February 9th, 20220 By Joseph Richard Preville On August 4, 1963, The New York Times Magazine published President Kennedy’s majestic essay, “A Nation of Immigrants.” Rejecting geographically narrow and restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin for the U.S., Kennedy urged reform and the adoption of a new immigration policy that would...
Dearborn native releases her first album as a member of a band
December 22nd, 20210 DEARBORN — Dearborn native Ameera Husein and Ver Novum —the band for which she sings lead — released their first album together on Friday, Dec. 17. Husein, a first-generation American and the daughter of Palestinian and Algerian parents, had been singing independently for about seven years before joining Ver Novum. In 2018,...
World Channel to premiere “Brooklyn Inshallah”, highlights Father El-Yateem’s NYC City Council campaign
December 10th, 20210 NEW YORK — On December 14, the WORLD Channel brings a film exploring community and the American political landscape in Ahmed Mansour’s Brooklyn Inshallah. In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Father Khader El-Yateem is running for a seat on the City Council. A long-time resident of Bay Ridge, El-Yateem is a Palestinian American and a...
Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood coming to Dearborn
October 13th, 20210 DEARBORN — Comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood are coming to the Henry Ford Community and Performing Arts Center on Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. The stars of the Emmy-nominated “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will be presenting an evening of improvisational comedy. Using their quick wit, Mochrie and Sherwood will take contributions...
Henry Ford Centennial Library hosting Great Michigan Read Author Mary Doria Russell
October 13th, 20210 DEARBORN — As part of the 2021 Great Michigan Read Author Tour, the Henry Ford Centennial Library will host award-winning author Mary Doria Russell. The event will be held on Zoom or can be viewed in the Henry Ford Centennial Library Auditorium on Oct. 15 at 11 a.m. A statewide panel of teachers, librarians, community leaders...
CommuniTEA in Arabic, an inspiring, community-focused podcast, features stories of successful Arabs in North America.
October 1st, 20210 CommuniTEA in Arabic sponsored by Lipton Yellow Label is a podcast series highlighting the stories of successful Immigrants and first-generation Arabs within the Arabic communities in the U.S. and Canada. The show's vision is to uplift and connect its audience and provide a platform to showcase that the positive efforts of others can...
See original Arabic calligraphy and an artist talk at Farmington Hills City Hall
September 10th, 20210 FARMINGTON HILLS — A unique exhibit celebrating the tradition of Arabic and Islamic calligraphy can be seen at the Farmington Hills City Hall, supported by the city’s Public Art Program. A solo exhibit by Palestinian American and Farmington Hills resident Dr. Nihad Dukhan has been on display at the building and those interested...
The Arab American National Museum gears up for upcoming virtual music festival, JAM3A
September 9th, 20210 DEARBORN — The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is drawing closer to the much anticipated lineup for JAM3A , a four-day virtual music festival on September 23-26, celebrating Arab talent, community and identity. The eclectic lineup includes audience favorites as well as names new to the AANM (virtual) stage, including......
Dearborn artist Danya Zituni selected as WDET’s “Artist Next Door” fellow
August 19th, 20210 DEARBORN — Danya Zituni, a Dearborn-based Arab American artist, is one of six artists awarded a stipend in WDET's "Artist Next Door" project. WDET's website says the project highlights artists whose work "gives us a greater understanding of their cultural heritage and bring us closer as a region of neighbors." Zituni, a...
The fresh debut of INDKNA, experimental Yemeni and Yemeni American band, for Pride Month
July 1st, 20210 DEARBORN — INDKNA, a refreshingly new music band of Yemeni and Yemeni American immigrant women and gender-nonconforming artists, kicked off a virtual debut at the Arab American National Museum’s virtual Pride Concert + Talk Back event. Closing out Pride Month, the museum and YallaPunk collaborated this year for the first time to...
“Behind the scenes” documentary on Hamtramck politics premieres on WORLD Channel May 25
May 19th, 20210 HAMTRAMCK — The city of Hamtramck, known to be the nation’s first Muslim-majority city, is the subject of a documentary set to makes its broadcast premiere on the WORLD Channel (formerly PBS WORLD) on Tuesday, May 25. A synopsis for the documentary, titled Hamtramck, USA, says it "goes behind the scenes of small-town politics,"...
Canadian comedy duo talk “first Arab superhero” sketch
May 2nd, 20210 TORONTO — When Arab Canadian duo Rob Michaels and Fady Ghali noticed a lack of representation of Arabs in the superhero films, they decided to do what they do best: Create a comedic sketch. Michaels and Ghali have been creating amusing sketches for their Wishful Genies YouTube and social media pages for adoring audiences for......
Allied Media Projects to continue arts, liberation, justice work at new LOVE Building
April 8th, 20210 DETROIT — Allied Media Projects (AMP), a renowned Detroit organization that has strong ties with the region’s Arab arts and activism community, is gearing up to transition to a new collaborative space in the city. AMP is best described as a network of people and projects that utilize media-based organizing towards it’s goal of...
In Geiger, Geoff Johns pens another Arab character into the comics world
April 6th, 20211 There’s no doubt, comic book fans are well aware of Geoff Johns' illustrious career. Whether writing for some of the DC Comics' most iconic series, being the creative force behind some of the company’s biggest movie hits or serving in various executive capacities, Johns’ time in the industry is nothing short of......
Fearing the Palestinian narrative: Why Israel banned “Jenin Jenin”
January 21st, 20210 On Jan. 11, the Israeli Lod District Court ruled against a Palestinian film-maker, Mahmoud Bakri, ordering him to pay hefty compensation to an Israeli soldier who was accused, along with the Israeli military, of carrying out war crimes in April 2002, in the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp located in the northern occupied West Bank. The...
Arab America: Preserving the Arabic language and culture
January 12th, 20210 DEARBORN — Friday, December 18 marked the celebration of Arabic Language Day, a day that honors a language spoken by more than 300 million people worldwide. World Arabic Language Day was established by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural......
