8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 25, 2022
Donia Jarrar + Friends wsg Huda Asfour
In-person at The Annex @ AANM
Purchase in-person tickets
Museum Members: $12
General Public: $15
Students: $10
Purchase virtual livestream tickets
All audiences: $5
Join artist-in-residence Donia Jarrar for the premiere of her new evening-length work, BUTCHER, produced during her residency, and featuring poet and writer Yasmine Rukia, and dancers Ava Ansari and Zaza. Huda Asfour will open the concert with her signature solo oud improvisations. There will also be a talkback with the artists after the show.
Outside of infamous Egyptian serial killers Raya and Sakina and the mythological Aicha Qandicha, North African women as figures of darkness have rarely been explored, much less so in music. BUTCHER is a loosely autobiographical concept album based on Jarrar’s own experiences with domestic and intimate partner violence and sexual assault, in which she takes on the persona of a vigilante and antihero doling out punishments through the power wielded to her via a sonic cleaver. While her role is rooted in protecting victims and removing the social stigma around domestic violence in our community, she is by no means just or angelic.
Jarrar is not interested in playing nice. Rather, she aims to explore what is possible when women, non-binary people and queers of all genders defy, disrupt and destroy the patriarchy through violent means and without mercy, drawing inspiration from horror, science-fiction and the erotic.
BUTCHER will delve into the genres of noise, industrial and electronic all while maintaining Jarrar’s signature incorporation of oral histories and field recordings.
CONTENT WARNING: This performance includes sensitive content on domestic violence, sexual assault, physical violence, identity-based racial discrimination and harassment. There will also be the use of prop swords, knives and cleavers and other edged and bladed weapons. While this performance is meant to be a healing space for survivors, the artist acknowledges that this content may be difficult for some audience members.
All AANM guests are required to show proof of full vaccination, remain masked, and fill out a health screening form upon check-in in order to attend this event.
For questions, e-mail Kathryn Grabowski at [email protected].
Donia Jarrar is a composer, pianist, improviser, and producer known for her unique use of field recordings, working with oral histories and their relationship to the composition and shaping of new musical works across varying genres. She releases music under the solo moniker Phonodelica. Her personal experiences have strongly shaped her compositional voice, leading her to explore themes of intergenerational memory, trauma, identity, exile, displacement, and cultural narrative. Jarrar holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. She lives in Los Angeles with her chihuahua Lily.
Huda Asfour believes in the necessity of transcending borders which is reflected in her work as an educator and musician. Huda has released two studio albums; ‘Mars… Back and Forth” in 2011 and “Kouni” in 2018 and has written music for film and multimedia. In March of 2019, she was nominated for the Aga Khan Music Awards for the Performance category. In addition to her music work, Huda also holds a B.Sc and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University and has over 10 years of research experience in the field of Biomedical Engineering.
This project is funded in part by Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Also made possible in part by
