Jun 29, 2023, 6 PM – 8 PM

Poets and Performers on Kahlil Gibran

Join us at The Drawing Center for an evening of readings and performances that will draw inspiration from the exhibition A Greater Beauty: The Drawings of Kahlil Gibran. This event is organized by poet, translator, and literary scholar Mona Kareem.

The evening will begin with a brief overview of the exhibition by curator Claire Gilman. Palestinian actor Adam Bakri will follow with a reading of Gibran's work. After Bakri, poets Nuar Alsadir, Mona Kareem and Fargo Nassim Tbakhi will read from their latest work. Nuar Alsadir is a poet, nonfiction writer, and psychoanalyst and Fargo Nassim Tbakhi is a queer Palestinian-American perfomance artist and writer. Syrian-American rapper, spoken word poet, and theatrical storyteller Omar Offendum will be closing the night with a performance.

Nuar Alsadir

Nuar Alsadir is a poet, nonfiction writer, and psychoanalyst. She is the author of the books Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation (Graywolf, 2022), which was one of TIME Magazine’s 100 must-read books of 2022 and a best book of 2022 from Publishers Weekly; Fourth Person Singular (Liverpool University Press, 2017), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and shortlisted for the 2017 Forward Prize for Best Collection in England and in Ireland; and More Shadow Than Bird (Salt Publishing, 2012).
Adam Bakri

Adam Bakri, a celebrated Palestinian actor, rose to prominence with his compelling performance in the film Omar. Showcasing his unique and versatile acting style, he has taken on a variety of roles in international cinema, solidifying his status in the industry.

At present, Adam features in the Hulu series Accused. He also shared the screen with Keira Knightley in the film Official Secrets, which is now available for streaming on Netflix.
Claire Gilman

Chief Curator at The Drawing Center
Mona Kareem

Mona Kareem is the author of three poetry collections. Her poetry has been translated into nine languages, and appeared (in English) in: POETRY, Poetry Northwest, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry London and Modern Poetry in Translation, among others. She is a recipient of a 2021 literary grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Kareem holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and works as an assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Washington University St. Louis. Her translations include Ashraf Fayadh’s Instructions Within (nominated for a BTBA award), Ra’ad Abdulqadir’s Except for this Unseen Thread, and Octavia Butler’s Kindred.
Omar Offendum

Omar Offendum is an award-winning NY-based rapper and spoken word artist with roots in Damascus, Syria. He will be performing a special poetic tribute to Khalil Gibran, weaving a collection of Gibran's poems and short stories together with poignant excerpts from his own poetic and musical repertoire. Omar's critically-acclaimed theatrical concert entitled "Little Syria" is largely influenced by the work of Khalil Gibran and other writers of Al-Rabita Al-Qalamiya (The Pen League, established in 1915 as the very first Arab-American artistic collective), which he will be performing alongside Oud virtuoso Ronnie Malley and beatmaker Thanks Joey at Joe's Pub on July 15 & 16.
Fargo Nissim Tbakhi

Fargo Nissim Tbakhi is a queer Palestinian-American performance artist and writer. He is the winner of the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Prize, a Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, and a Taurus. He has received fellowships from Rhizome DC, VisArts, Desert Nights Rising Stars, Halcyon Arts Lab, Mosaic Theater, and RAWI. His writing appears in Foglifter, Mizna, Peach Mag, Apex Magazine, Strange Horizons, the Shallow Ends, Prolit, and select bags of Nomadic Grounds Coffee. His performance work has been programmed at OUTsider Fest, INTER-SECTION Solo Fest, the Rachel Corrie Foundation’s Shuruq Festival, the Alwun House Monster’s Ball, Mosaic Theater, and has been supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts.