Artist Town Hall: On Abolition & Creative Labor

Asian Arts Initiative’s Artist Town Hall invites artists to come together to share their latest projects, make a pitch, and exchange resources. This iteration of the Town Hall invites BIPOC, Palestinian, and SWANA artists whose practice or current projects engage restorative justice and anti-oppression efforts.

Artists that join the Town Hall will share their work alongside two invited presenters, including the Memory Workers’ Guild (MWG) and theater director Zaina Yasmin Dana. We hope to spark conversation and collaboration of artists and culture workers across anti-apartheid, abolition, and restorative justice movements.

Tafari Diop (@tafaridiop) of Memory Workers’ Guild is a decentralized collective of friends, peers, and community members dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and production of Black cultural legacies, experiences, and memories.

Zaina Yasmin Dana (@zainaydana) is a Palestinian Philadelphia-based director striving to create restorative and justice-seeking art (classical, devised, and contemporary!) to promote radical love and acceptance at the individual and community level.