What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists

Golden Thread presented the conversation What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, presents What Do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists. This year’s program features Board president and resident artist, Nora El Samahy in conversation with founding artistic director, Torange Yeghiazarian on a journey highlighting Golden Thread's 25-year history of placing Middle Eastern women artists center stage. Guest artists will join Nora and Torange to reflect on the role Golden Thread has played in their artistic trajectory and their hopes for the future. Confirmed guest artists include Sofia Ahmad, Lana Nasser, Naima Shalhoub, among others.

Each year, Golden Thread Productions celebrates International Women’s Day with What Do the Women Say?, which showcases the work of leading Middle Eastern women artists. Previous programs have focused on dismantling patriarchy, the resilience of Syrian women who build community through their art, and artists who explore sex and sexuality. Past featured artists include Elmaz Abinader (This House, My Bones), Majeda Al Saqqa (Culture and Free Thought Association, Gaza Strip), Anita Amirrezvani (The Blood of Flowers, Equal to the Sun), Nawal el Saadawi (Memoirs from the Women’s Prison), Denmo Ibrahim (Baba, ECSTASY | a waterfable), Maryam Keshavarz (Circumstance), Rohiha Malek (Unveiled), Nabila Mango (executive director, Zawaya), Ayesha Mattau (Love Inshallah), Zahra Noorbakhsh (All Atheists are Muslim, #GoodMuslimBadMuslim), Shahrnush Parsipur (The Prison Memoirs, Women Without Men), Betty Shamieh (The Black Eyed, Territories), Deema Shehabi (Thirteen Departures From the Moon), Seema Sueko (Remains), and Rosemary Toohey (The Body Washer), and Dina Zarif. Event website.