"'Arabesque' was out of this world amazing. We enjoyed it very much and can't wait for the encore." —Laila El-Hajoui
"Great event at the Levantine Cultural Center Saturday night...the music took my soul on a beautiful journey." —Nancy Tedder
The Levantine Cultural Center presents an encore performance of "Arabesque" with Al-Fareed of Radio Al-Fareed, AKA Alfred Madain and a group of musicians, the band calling itself Bedouin X. The band members are David Markowitz, Timothy Maloof and David Martinielli. Special guest artist visiting from Tunisia, Jamel Eddine Boukraa.
Join us for a special interactive installation by digital artist VJ Um Amel followed by an evening of world music synchronized to a remix of Egyptian cinema and media emerging from across the Middle East. VJ Um Amel is an Egyptian-American digital artist, USC Ph.D. candidate, and the creator of R-Shief.org. R-Shief is an Arab media system that has one of the most rare archives of social media content from Arab revolutions. This event provides the audience with an interactive installation followed by an for an evening of world music synchronized to a remix of Egyptian cinema and media emerging from the revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawn from the databases of the R-Shief initiative, this installation pays tribute to the vision of the people. http://vjumamel.com. VJ Um Amel will be joined by writer/editor/researcher Maytha Alhassen with readings from the new anthology Demanding Dignity, Young Voices from the Arab Revolutions.
Deconstructing stereotypes: Jack G. Shaheen remembers 40 years
of commitment to positive Arab and US
understanding in evening lecture
[Monday December 10, 2012] On Wednesday December 19th, The Levantine Cultural Center presents honored media critic and film scholar Dr. Jack G. Shaheen in an intimate discussion and forum on misleading stereotypes based on Hollywood's negative portrayal of Arabs. Shaheen will be discussing his life-long commitment to illuminate social justice, with insights into the highs and lows of his 40-year quest, including his mission to reveal and terminate these damaging Arab and Muslim stigmas.
WHO: Jack G. Shaheen, media activist
WHERE: Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., LA 90035, street parking.
PRICE: Free to general public
INFO/RSVPs: Levantine Cultural Center, 323.413.2001, levantinecenter.org.
[Los Angeles-Monday November 27, 2012] Beginning Saturday, December 1st, the Levantine Cultural Center presents a fascinating new exhibit based on the work of film and media scholar Dr. Jack G. Shaheen's work: A is for Arab: Stereotypes in U.S. Popular Culture.
Vijay Mahajan, Ph.D., visited 18 Arab nations for his book that reveals a vibrant, bustling place full of commerce and consumers hungry for goods of almost every kind.
BEYOND "ARAB SPRING" & "ARAB RAGE"
VIJAY MAHAJAN FINDS THRIVING ARAB MARKET
OF 350 MILLION CONSUMERS
THU, OCT. 18, 2012, 7 PM
"Ben Ali promised reform and democracy. What he delivered was an increasingly draconian one-party police state. The major target of the state repression was political Islam. But after Islamist politics receded from electoral and social relevance in Tunisia, the governments iron fist did not soften. The man who would be democrat became indistinguishable from a king." —Khalid Husssein
"In all, it appears that whatever the future holds in store for Egypt, the legacy of Tahrir Square—not the legacy of operation Iraqi Freedom—will provide the beacon of democracy in the region." —James Gelvin
Many Egyptians refer to the "Arab Spring" as the "1/2 Revolution." Most Arab speakers think of the continuing unrest period as the Thaura (the uprising). Now, James Gelvin, author of The Arab Awakenings, What Everyone Needs to Know, and Khalid Hussein artist and author of the illustrated book The Tunisian Awakening, present their new works and engage the audience in a frank discussion about uprisings across the Arab world.
On Thursday, July 19, the Goethe-Institut and Levantine Cultural Center present an evening of readings with Tunisian novelist Hassouna Mosbahi. Selections from Mosbahi's most recent novels, The Orphan of Time and A Tunisian Tale (available in English from the American University of Cairo Press) will be read by Mosbahi along with actors Jihad Abdo and Patrick Faucette reading from his work in Arabic and English. A public discussion will ensue, moderated by Fareed Majari, director of the Goethe-Institut in Los Angeles following his posting in Beirut, Lebanon. The program is free to the public, and is cosponsored by the Villa Aurora, where Hassouna Mosbahi is a Feuchtwanger Fellow until the end of the year.