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Our Gatherings
From film screenings to book clubs, open mics to art workshops. A record of the culture we've built together.
90 gatherings
Arts & Culture
MIPSTERZ 14th Annual Eid Mic
A mixed-media Eid showcase featuring musicians, poets, and performers, including a Turkish folk baglama player, a ten-person Arabic music ensemble, and a Bengali-American poet.
Arts & Culture
Duo Maratin
Named from the Andalusi Arabic word for 'maratin,' meaning two places, Duo Maratin is a Boston-based duo blending Arabic maqam, flamenco, and jazz.
Arts & Culture
Los Mambiseros: Cuban Jazz, Son, Bolero, Rumba & Poetry
A celebration of Cuba's folkloric culture through Afro-Cuban drumming, Caribbean poetry, and diasporic reflection, led by Los Mambiseros.
Arts & Culture
Five Makams, One Source
A participatory sound-healing session by the Makam Healing Project, rooted in Turkish Classical Music, exploring five makams through collective voice, improvisation, and deep listening.
Arts & Culture
Hawa Collective feat. Illuminated Cities + DJ Najwa
An evening of live music from the SWANA region, Palestinian poetry from students in Gaza through the Illuminated Cities project, and a DJ set by Najwa.
Arts & Culture
Songs of Resistance: An Evening of Listening & Chanting in Community
Marking the 15th anniversary of the Egyptian uprising, this gathering with The Nahda Project explores revolutionary music from the Arab Spring and across the SWANA region as a tool of resistance and transgenerational memory.
Arts & Culture
Songs of Resistance Listening Party
A listening session centered on music as resistance, bringing the Minara community together around songs from the SWANA region, hosted with The Nahda Project.
Arts & Culture
Diasporic Digging: A Vinyl Show & Tell
An intimate vinyl show-and-tell exploring music through a diasporic lens, hosted by SubDrift Boston.
Arts & Culture
SubDrift Boston February Open Mic
A monthly multilingual open mic by SubDrift Boston, building South Asian diasporic creative community through live performance.
Arts & Culture
Babas + Ravi Shavi
Two special duo sets from punk rock experimenters BABAS and RAVI SHAVI, with on-site donations benefiting Warm Up Boston, a radical survival program for Boston's unhoused community.
Arts & Culture
Live DJ Set featuring Sa'maia Evans
A live DJ set from Sa'maia Evans, bringing music and energy to the Minara community.
Arts & Culture
Live Eid DJ Set with Ali Soofi
An Eid DJ set with Ali Soofi, celebrating the holiday with music and community.
Arts & Culture
Minara Open Decks
An open decks night welcoming DJs of all levels to share their music with the Minara community, led by DJ-in-residence Yusuf Siddiquee.
Arts & Culture
Neighborhood Jam: Maqam Edition & Anti-War Art Build
A night of musical improvisation in the Arabic maqam style, led by members of Hawa Collective and master musicians in the greater Boston area. Muslim Justice League hosts an anti-war art build, bringing together instrument players and visual artists for sign and poster-making.
Arts & Culture
Neighborhood Jam with Yahezkul Fanfan
A neighborhood jam anchored by performance and conversation exploring police violence, Blackness in America, and the power of music.
Arts & Culture
Neighborhood Jam with SubDrift
A night of improvisational jams and live performances from Cambridge and Boston-area musicians, welcoming all instruments and all levels, led by SubDrift Boston.
Arts & Culture
Open Neighborhood Jam
An open jam session inviting neighbors to bring their instruments and make music together at Minara.
Arts & Culture
Hawa Collective Rehearsal & Open Jam
An open rehearsal and jam session with Hawa Dub Collective, welcoming instrumentalists to join and play.
Arts & Culture
Lightpaint Night
A playful, interactive evening with LokBros where participants use colored lights to create life-sized works on an ephemeral canvas and save their pieces to a shared community gallery.
Arts & Culture
Rebel Tongues: A Diaspora Poetry, Art, & Music Experience
An open mic for poetry, music, and raw honesty, co-hosted by NYC Youth Poet Laureate 2024 Fathma and cultural futurist Fathima, with all proceeds benefiting the Sudanese American Physicians Association.
Arts & Culture
Shab-e-Mi'raj: The Prophetic Night Journey
A community poetry open mic and contemplative evening honoring the Prophet Muhammad's night ascent, featuring Sufi-inspired offerings by Nazish Riaz and Marzyeh Ghassemi.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Minara Gallery Opening Reception
The opening reception of Minara's inaugural gallery, featuring over 15 artists working in painting, photography, and mixed media, exploring struggle, memory, belonging, and collective possibility.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Minara Art Gallery Tour
A guided tour through Minara's gallery, offering visitors an opportunity to engage closely with the artwork on view.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Echoes of Light Opening Reception
The opening reception of Echoes of Light, Minara's two-week homage to the 2025 Gaza Biennale, featuring prints and works by 50 Palestinian artists who continued to create amid genocide and displacement. Presented with the Al-Risan Forbidden Art Museum in Palestine.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Saffron & Samovar: A Curated Room of Stories from Kashmir
An intimate afternoon of craft, memory, and voice centered on artifacts from Kashmir, with a gallery talk by curator Sumaya Teli and a special Kashmiri-inspired cafe menu.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Documenting War from Within: Sudan in Photographs
A fireside conversation with Sudanese photographer and World Press Photo Award recipient Mosab Abushama, whose 15-month documentary series Tadween captured daily life during Sudan's ongoing war. Hosted with Freedom School.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
A Little for My Heart, A Little for My God: Film Screening
A screening of the Algerian documentary exploring gender, music, and rai culture through the lives of female musicians in Oran, set against the backdrop of the Algerian civil war.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Valley of Saints: Film Screening + Q&A with Director Musa Syeed
A screening of the Sundance Award-winning film Valley of Saints, set on Dal Lake in Kashmir, followed by a live Q&A with director Musa Syeed.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
Stories from the Ground: A Call to Witness, Remember, and Act
A series of short films from Sudan followed by guided community conversations and a fundraiser to help rebuild a village near Wad Madani. Hosted with Freedom School.
Exhibitions, Galleries & Film
The Power in Looking: A Feminist Film & Coffee Making Workshop
A two-part slow morning series with filmmaker Imran Siddiquee, pairing hand-pour coffee making with feminist film theory and close readings of cinema from Julie Dash to Atlantics.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Arabic Calligraphy Workshop
A hands-on workshop on the philosophy, art, and science of Islamic calligraphy in the Thuluth style, led by Cambridge-based artist Kashif, a student of Istanbul-based Master Calligrapher Shahryanshah.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
From Kunafa to Korma: Archiving Food Workshop
An interactive workshop led by food anthropologist Jana Amin exploring food as a political and cultural archive, encouraging participants to think and listen differently about their own culinary traditions.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Bad Artist, Good Human with Sara Alfageeh
A storytelling and comics workshop led by award-winning artist Sara Alfageeh, guiding participants through drawing, narrative, and pacing, each leaving with their own zine.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Stories Under the Light: An Oral Storytelling Workshop
A workshop on the craft of oral storytelling led by Sara Afshar, covering how to structure a personal narrative, tell it aloud, and hold an audience, drawing on traditions from West Africa, the Arab world, and Iran.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Islamic Art is Complicated: A Workshop
An interactive session with MFA Boston's Assistant Curator of Islamic Art, Nadirah Mansour, examining how Islamic art has been defined, displayed, and understood across time.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
The Puzzle of Islamic Law: An Interactive Introduction to Islamic Legal Thought
An accessible introduction to Islamic legal thought led by lawyer and historian Hassaan Shahawy, exploring the questions underlying Islamic rulings, Sunni and Shia approaches, and the history of scholarly debate.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Poetics of Revelation: A Literary Journey through the Quran
A four-session intimate workshop exploring the Quran as a work of profound literary beauty, led by Islamic studies scholar Abbas Rattani.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Knitting for Social Change: A Workshop
A hands-on knitting workshop tracing the craft's long history in activism, from protest art in Denmark to COVID-19 data visualization, while teaching participants the basics of knitting.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Tatreez & Meremiah: A Palestinian Embroidery Workshop
A tatreez workshop teaching Palestinian embroidery through a sage plant motif from artist Shereen Quttaineh's Forbidden Plants series. Led by Salma Shawa and Lana Sabbah, Palestinians from Gaza and co-creators of the tatreez tutorials YouTube channel.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Stitching in Solidarity: A Crochet Workshop
A beginner-friendly crochet workshop led by artist Aya Oulal, who has raised over $7,000 for Gaza through her craft, with all proceeds going to mutual aid.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Stitching in Solidarity: A Watermelon Workshop
A crochet workshop creating watermelon keychains as symbols of Palestinian solidarity, with proceeds going directly to mutual aid.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Stitching in Solidarity: Hearts for Sudan
A Valentine's season crochet workshop where participants learn to stitch hearts in solidarity with Sudan.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Translating Textiles into Memory: A South Asian Blockprinting Workshop
A workshop on block carving and printing inspired by South Asian textile traditions, led by Harvard Divinity School student Mishka Banuri, with each participant creating their own block and prints.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Chatrai: A Workshop
Lahore Heritage Club's signature workshop on chatrai, the meditative South Asian craft of shaping soft metal into decorative motifs rooted in centuries of artistry.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Mandala Art & Meditation Stones Workshop
An intimate hands-on workshop with mandala artist Hina Jolin, exploring dot painting and mandala composition as a meditative, intentional creative practice.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Dabke Performance & Workshop
A performance and hands-on workshop in dabke, the traditional Levantine folk dance, offered with The Nahda Project.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Ending the Forever War: An Organizing Workshop
An organizing workshop hosted by Muslim Justice League, building community knowledge and capacity around anti-war movement work.
Workshops & Hands-On Learning
Eid Letters to Incarcerated Muslims
A community letter-writing workshop centering connection with incarcerated Muslims during Eid, hosted with Freedom School.
Talks & Conversations
Building a Third Space: A Conversation with the Minara Team, moderated by Iman Moawad
An opening conversation with the Minara team on the vision, intention, and meaning behind building a community third space.
Talks & Conversations
Love as Radical Action: Hanif Abdurraqib in conversation with Andre Holland & Reshma Hussam
A conversation with writer Hanif Abdurraqib, joined by actor Andre Holland and Reshma Hussam, exploring love as a political and communal act. Hosted with Freedom School.
Talks & Conversations
Listening Lessons with Vijay Iyer
An intimate listening session with multi-Grammy-nominated MacArthur Fellow and Harvard professor Vijay Iyer, who walks the audience through his recordings, remixes, and covers.
Talks & Conversations
Care, Power, and Political Imagination
An evening with Cambridge Mayor Zumbul Siddiqui and City Councilor Ayah Al-Zubi, in conversation with community on how decisions are made, how trust is built, and what a city shaped by mutual obligation can look like.
Talks & Conversations
Heart-to-Heart: A Guided Community Conversation on Love, Faith, and Justice
A speed-dating-style guided conversation series inviting participants to share honestly about love, faith, and justice and meet new neighbors along the way.
Talks & Conversations
ICE vs. The People: Lessons from Minnesota
On the one-month anniversary of Minnesota's general strike, this interactive lecture with Harvard historian Walter Johnson examines the history of state violence and what the movement requires of us. Hosted with Freedom School and Harvard AFRO.
Talks & Conversations
Psychic Militancy as Anti-Imperial Praxis: Lara Sheehi in conversation with Malak Rafla
A conversation hosted by Freedom School with scholar Lara Sheehi and Malak Rafla, exploring the intersection of inner life, mental health, and anti-imperial politics.
Talks & Conversations
Fire in Every Direction: Tareq Baconi in conversation with Imani Perry
A fireside chat and moderated Q&A hosted by Freedom School with Tareq Baconi and Imani Perry, bringing community into conversation on resistance, justice, and political imagination.
Talks & Conversations
Black Spring: A Conversation on Grief, Joy, & Power with Phil Agnew and Samora Pinderhughes
A fireside chat and musical performance with activist Phil Agnew and musician Samora Pinderhughes, holding together art, memory, healing, and resistance. Hosted with Freedom School.
Talks & Conversations
Nahda Project Gathering Circle
A weekly critical conversation by The Nahda Project, bringing together engineers, anthropologists, and graduate students to discuss knowledge production, imagination, and the SWANA region. This session sparked impromptu music-making alongside the discussion.
Talks & Conversations
Celebrating Uyghur History Through Literature
A community gathering exploring Uyghur history and culture through literature, co-hosted with the Boston Uyghur Association and Harvard Undergraduates for Uyghur Solidarity.
Talks & Conversations
Gathering Amidst Uncertainty
An open community gathering offering space for grounding, journaling, poetry, and drawing, and shared conversation about what is on our hearts and minds amid global uncertainty.
Talks & Conversations
Between Us: Muslim Women's Health Community Circle
A community circle led by Harvard OB/GYN and researcher Dr. Sarrah Shahawy, inviting women to share lived experiences in reproductive and obstetric care to help shape future medical research. Hosted with the Muslim Reproductive and Global Health Engagement Research Lab at Harvard Medical School.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Kitab Book Club Launch
The launch of Boston's Kitab Book Club, centering Muslim and SWANA authors, opening with a discussion of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's This Is How You Lose the Time War.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Iqra: A Muslim Women's Book Club Launch
The inaugural gathering of Iqra, a book club reading work by and for Muslim women, opening with a discussion of Etaf Rum's A Woman Is No Man.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Iqra: All My Rage
Iqra's book club discussion of Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage, continuing their monthly gathering around books by and for Muslim women.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Reading: Witness to the Hellfire of Genocide
A community reading and discussion hosted by the Palestinian Youth Movement (Boston Chapter), centering the question: what does it mean to hold the responsibility of knowing and being a witness?
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Writers Open Mic
A literary open mic hosted by poet Sara Afshar, intentionally designed for sharing unfinished work: poems, pages, and drafts in progress, in a supportive community of listeners.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Stories Under the Light
A storytelling-centered open mic inspired by The Moth, inviting participants to share personal stories about moving toward their own light, the revelations, the stumbles, and everything in between.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Ramadan Storytime #1
The first of four Ramadan storytimes for young children ages 2 to 6, offering a cozy morning of read-alouds and community connection.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Ramadan Storytime #2
The second of four Ramadan storytimes, continuing a series of welcoming morning gatherings for young children during the holy month.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Ramadan Storytime #3
The third of four Ramadan storytimes, bringing families together through story during Ramadan.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Ramadan Storytime #4
The fourth and final Ramadan storytime of the season, closing out the series with stories and community for young children and their families.
Readings, Book Clubs & Literary Events
Eid Storytime
A family storytime gathering for young children, celebrating Eid through shared stories.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Opening Day
Minara's official opening day, welcoming the community into the space for the first time.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Minara Eid Open House
A full-day Eid open house inviting the community to drop in, move freely through the space, and experience music, conversation, making, and reflection throughout the day.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Eid Neighborhood Jam
A neighborhood musical gathering celebrating Eid, bringing together community members for an open, festive jam.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Chand Raat
A celebration of the Eid moon sighting featuring mehndi, music, crafting, and chai, honoring the tradition of Chand Raat as a night of community, prep, and Eid spirit.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Pre-Ramadan Social
A community social ahead of Ramadan featuring local organizations, trivia, reflective activities, and connection, creating space to set intentions and enter the month together. Hosted with Boston Community Social.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Funkaari Coffee House
A pop-up cafe and crafting space imagining a diasporic cafe culture unconstrained by migration and partition, with chai, carrom, art-making, and community. Presented with Words in Urdu and Lahore Heritage Club.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Watch Party: African Cup of Nations Final
A watch party for the African Cup of Nations Final, with music curated by Black Art Tours and sports writer Son of Gao, alongside conversation about the tournament's pan-African history and significance.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Justice for Faisal: Community Gathering & Celebration of Life
A community memorial and celebration of life for Arif Sayed Faisal, three years after his killing by Cambridge Police, including testimonials, communal art, and discussion on ending police violence. Hosted with the Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Lantern Messages: A Community Light Installation
A participatory community light installation inviting visitors to contribute messages, collectively creating a shared, luminous space.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
Works In Progress Eid Crafting Circle
An Eid-season crafting circle welcoming all makers and all projects, creating space for community connection through making.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
The Freedom Iftar
Inspired by the 1969 Freedom Seder, this Ramadan iftar organized by Archive Solidarities Collective and Freedom School weaves together prayer, ritual, text, and archival memory, creating space for grief, anger, and hope as political tools.
Community Gatherings & Social Events
BYOBG (Bring Your Own Board Game)
A casual community night inviting everyone to bring their favorite board games and play together at Minara.
Crafting & Making Circles
Works in Progress Crafting Circle #1
The first in Minara's ongoing series of open crafting circles, welcoming makers of all kinds to bring their projects and create in community.
Crafting & Making Circles
Works in Progress Crafting Circle #2
The second in Minara's crafting circle series, continuing to offer space for all crafts and all crafters to work together.
Crafting & Making Circles
Works in Progress Crafting Circle #3
The third gathering in Minara's crafting circle series, a regular space for community members to start or continue projects together.
Crafting & Making Circles
Works in Progress Crafting Circle #4
The fourth in Minara's crafting circle series, welcoming all crafters to continue their work in the new year alongside their community.
Crafting & Making Circles
Late Night Crafting Circle
A late-night open crafting circle inviting makers to bring any project and create together into the evening.
Crafting & Making Circles
Vision Boarding
A women's gathering hosted with Sunnyside to pause, reflect, and set intentions for the year ahead through vision boarding.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE GATHERINGS
See who's gathered here.