Shahadat Theatrical Readings
The Borderland and Ethnic Studies department at New Mexico State University has begun an interdisciplinary research-art project, “Shahadat Theatrical Readings,” based on Manal Hamzeh’s 2020 book, “Women Resisting Sexual Violence and the Egyptian Revolution: Arab Feminist Testimonies.”
The book was a result of eight years of relational and on-the-ground research that she started in 2012 between Las Cruces, Amman, Jordan, and Cairo, Egypt. In the book, Hamzeh’s scholarship refutes Western imperialist feminist narratives about the Revolution and Arab women, and legitimizing Arabyya research methodologies of shahadat and haki – public political testimonies and trust-based intimate conversations.
“Shahadat” is the second artistic iteration of Hamzeh’s book. The first was a graphic documentary representation published online by the Egyptian underground media outlet Mada Masr and The Nib in the U.S.
“By creating graphic and live embodied representations of these brave shahadat we can uplift the truths of women who refused to be silenced during the Egyptian Revolution, fostering knowledges from below and from the margins,” Hamzeh said. “’Shahadat’ intends to invite the actors and audiences to understand the consequences of state-sponsored sexual violence in one specific context and the power of women’s resistance.”
Hamzeh's work embodies the core values of the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Department, promoting love, integrity, and resistance against oppression through multiple methodologies.
Collaborators
This project is a collaboration between Hamzeh, the director of the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Research Center, playwright Fouad Teymour, Silk Road Cultural Center in Chicago, and NMSU theater faculty Nichole Hamilton and Larissa Lury and seven students.
Future Directions
Beginning Oct. 30, Hamzeh and Silk Road Rising Cultural Center in Chicago will facilitate a five-day reading, editing and writing, and rehearsing workshop with a full team of professional actors and actresses, a director, a dramaturg, and an oud player. The International Voices Project of Chicago will host the live reading/performance Nov. 4.
In 2025, the BEST Research Center team will report on the impact of this project and co-create a research and art curriculum with partners in Las Cruces public schools.
Hamzeh’s scholarship is rooted in Arab feminist research methodologies, which challenged militarist and patriarchal oppression during the Egyptian uprisings of 2011-2012 and centered the shahadat, or testimonies, of three incredibly brave Egyptian women activists in their pursuit of justice.
Hamzeh’s commitment, in her teaching and research, is a continuous contribution to the movement of Arab feminist thinking and activism. With multiple research methodologies, artistic modalities and collaborations, she seeks a deeper understanding of the complexities of how colonial violence manifests in gendered and racialized relations and how resistance is inevitable. “Shahadat Theatrical Readings,” as a research and art project, embodies love, integrity, kindness, generosity and answerability, the core values of the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Department at NMSU.
More Info
Samira Testimony– Graphic Representation
Ola & Yasmine Testimonies – Graphic Representation
Women Resisting Sexual Violence The Egyptian Revolution By Dr.Manal Hamzeh
NMSU Press Release - 22 Oct 2024
