Program – Arab Fest 2012

Disclaimer: The schedule is still subject to change!

Main Stage (The Olympia Center)

Saturday, October 6
11:00am – 11:15am	Layali Dabke	Dabke is a traditional style of dance that is performed all over the middle east.
11:20am – 12:00p	Arab Story Telling	Koloud Kay Tarapolsi will tell stories in Arabic using books and songs.
12:30pm – 1:30pm	House of Tarab Arabic Music Ensemble	High Energy Vintage Arabic Music from Egypt, Lebanon, & Syria.
1:45pm – 2:15pm	Shahrazad Dance Ensemble	One of Seattle’s premier performing troupes. The group performs folkloric dances from the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.
2:25pm – 2:45pm	Fashion Show	A display of Arab Fashion from a variety of different Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Algeria, Kuwait and more.
2:55pm – 3:15pm	Somalian Dance	This group of young women are high school students who have traveled from the Tri-Cities to perform traditional Somalian dance and to model traditional Somalian fashion.
3:30pm – 4:00pm	Tarik Bentlemsani	Local musician from Olympia with Algerian heritage performing solo instrumental acoustic guitar.
4:35pm – 5:00pm	Batiste Dabke Dance Team	We will finish off the day with with an energizing performance of this Palestinain folk dance and Middle Eastern Drumming and Rhythms.
7pm – 9pm	Khaled The Comic, Yusra Khogali, and N.F.	Khaled TheComic tours nationwide and though out Canada and the Middle East, performing 30 minute stand up comedy narratives. Yusra Khogali- Since the debut of her spoken word career in 2009, she has performed for over 200 shows/festivals in Toronto, and neighbouring cities. N.F. – this Saudi Arabian hip-hop, rap,and spoken word artist was born and raised in Washington D.C. Though based in the states, he stays true to his roots, choosing to work with other artists in the Middle East region such as Moh Flow and Nora, as well as, artists from his home country, namely: Anas Arabi, Big Sak & Sleuther. Evening event with ticket sales available at door. $10 student/low-income, $15 general.

Side Room

Saturday, October 6
11:00am – 11:30am	Why Culture Matters	An Anthropological Approach to Our Lives with Christina Fusch. What is culture? Or, more importantly, why does culture matter? In the Middle East, archaeologists search for artifacts from ancient cultures in giant hills of dirt called tells. We can think of our lives as “hills” of culture: holistic, integrated, learned, linguistic and shared.
11:40am – 12:10pm	Conversation on Palestine	With Husnia Kouttainay.
12:20pm – 12:40pm	Speaking Arabic	Basic Conversational Workshop with Sally Brownfield. Learn some Arabic from a native speaker through actions! The teacher will model Arabic greetings and then some actions. You will do these actions also on her command. You will also participate in a structured discussion. At the end of the session, you will understand quite a few Arabic words. This lesson will be fun for both children and adults.
12:50pm – 1:50pm	Arab & Muslim Women Shattering Stereotypes	With Samia El-Moslimany, Amal Eqeiq and Therese Saliba. Join us for a conversation with three Arab and Arab American women actively involved in writing, teaching, and community organizing on Arab and Muslim women’s issues. They will discuss common images and stereotypes, and talk about how the everyday lived experiences of Arab, Muslim and Arab-American women shatter these stereotypes.
2:00pm – 2:40pm	Anti-Arab Racism Introduction and Theater Performance “Where Do You Stand”	With Teen Council Theater and Therese Saliba. Teen Council Theatre uses playback techniques, forum, improvisation, and scripted plays to address the needs of youth. This scene was created to examine harassment that occurs for Arab-American Youth. Through ‘active’ performance, the troupe strives to create peer to peer dialogue about difficult teen issues. Themes often explore ‘allyship” and the ‘bystander role” to combat harassment and build positive culture in schools and our community.
2:50pm – 3:20pm	Conversation on Libya	With Kay Tarapolsi.
3:30pm – 5:00pm	Perspectives on the Arab Spring: What It Means and Where it is Going	With Kay Tarapolsi, Jawed Zouari, and Hazim Al Mohaisen moderated by Steve Niva. This panel discussion will feature the views of several Arab-American community members on the Arab democracy uprisings that have transformed the Arab World in the past few years. They will share their views on the current situation in a number of Arab countries and their views on the future of these changes, including consideration of developments in Egypt, Libya, Syria and other countries. They will share their unique perspectives as Arab Americans who live in the United States yet are still linked closely to region from which they or their families came.

Mural Stage (Capitol and State)

Friday, October 5
5pm – 6pm	DJ Arabic Music
6pm – 8pm	Tarik Bentlemsani
8pm – 9pm	DJ Arabic Music
9pm – 10pm	DJ Arabic Music
Saturday, October 6
12:00pm – 12:30pm	DJ Music/Announcements
12:30pm – 1:00pm	Conversation on Egypt with Ali Saad
1:00pm – 1:15pm	Batiste Dabke
1:15pm – 1:45pm	Somalian Dancers
1:45pm – 1:55pm	DJ Music
2:00pm – 2:30pm	Tarik Bentlemsani
2:30pm – 3:00pm	Conversation on Iraq with Abdul-Razzaq Khadar
3:00pm – 3:15pm	House of Tarab
3:20pm – 3:45pm	Sheharazade
3:45pm – 4:00pm	DJ Music
4:00pm – 4:30pm	Conversation on Jordan with Nesrine Shatila
4:30pm – 5pm	Conversation on Gaza, Palestine with Hakeem Bashir

Film Festival (Olympia Film Society)

Sunday, October 7
2:30pm	The Time That Remains	A darkly comedic take on the Palestine-Israel conflict as told in four parts.
5pm	I Want To See	While in Beirut to attend a glamorous banquet, legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve insists on being taken to the southern regions of Lebanon in order to see first-hand the devastation caused by Israel’s month-long bombing campaign there in the summer of 2006.
7:30pm	Bab Aziz	A visual poem of incomparable beauty, this masterpiece from director Nacer Khemir (Wanderers of the Desert) begins with the story of a blind dervish named Bab’Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar.