Funoon is proud to present Tanfis return!

After the success of last year’s event, Remix ⟷ Culture returns with a new exploration of community-rooted music and stories, porting them to the contemporary through audio and visual remix. Once again led by the notion of tanfis, an Arabic word that translates to a cathartic liberation of the soul, this year’s iteration brings together a stellar collective of NY-based community-rooted musicians, storytellers, remix artists, and DJs from diaspora communities of Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

In September 2023, the artists embarked on a 3-month residency, taking place in various locations upstate NY and in NYC, where they will collaboratively document and remix their community-rooted music and stories in traditional and boundary-pushing ways. The culmination of this adventure will be a one-of-a-kind 3-hour live experience designed to take the audience on a “tanfis” journey, seamlessly harmonizing the traditional and the remix, acoustic and electronic, deep listening and dance, storytelling and trance, embroidery and video art. The evening will be a one-of-a-kind celebration of Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Iraqi culture – one as indebted to the past as it is hurdling forward toward a new future with hope and strength. We are thrilled to premiere this magical experience.

Featuring:

Alber Baseel
Alia Haju
Eden Zane
Elina Arbo
Huda Asfour
Lina Barkawi
Michael Joseph Burdi
Mona Miari
Nahed Elrayes
Nezih Antakli
Omar Aena
Sami Abu Shumays
Zafer Tawil
and the artists of the Freedom Dabka Group

This event is co-presented with ArteEast.