Join us for an evening of music, poetry, dance and art in solidarity against genocide.
Resources:
Palestinian Feminist Collective’s Digital Action Toolkit
KinderUSA joined us at the Mehfil and shared their life saving work. Learn more and consider supporting.
Press Release:
On Apr 13, the first Mehfil LA was hosted by @southasiannetwork (SAN) in their Little Bangladesh office in LA. The sold out event centered around artists and activists joining in solidarity with Palestine.
We’re so grateful to all who attended and made the event possible! With an artist showcase featuring Neel Agrawal, Michael Dwan Singh, Shyamala Moorty, Azeem Khan, Varuna Gunasekera, Mama India, Amita Batra, Salvin Chahal, Elephant Ghost, Saraswathi Jones, Discostan and visual artists Ragni and Mad Guru.
Executive Director of SAN, Shakeel Syed spoke on his activism in Palestine. Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, representing the nonprofit KinderUSA, discussed how they provide life saving food services to children in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. We are thankful to the SAN staff, especially Shakeel, Zainab Qureshi and Sufiyan.
Zainab shared the incredible work of SAN, including culturally appropriate services for South Asians in the areas of healthcare access, gender-based violence and civil rights/civic engagement.
The array of musical performances included dhrupad classical music,, ethereal, electronic, tabla and sarangi, Bangla-rock,and qawwali..
We appreciate the support of Neel Agrawal, Jayson Joseph, Michael Dwan Singh, Tanya Husain, Harpinder Mann and Yuki Shimotakahara for making the performances possible. Mehfil LA's very own social media manager, Sonya Soni did an amazing job with decor along with Mimi Vavilala.
We appreciated the sharings from activist Almas Sayeed and deep grounding meditation from Harpinder Mann.
We want to thank YOU, our progressive desi community, without whom none of this would be possible, as well as our amazing artists and volunteers. Special shout out to our vendors Masalawali Chai and Palestinian food from Rana Shehadeh.
Sohini and Radhika volunteered at an action table that gave attendees actions that can be taken for a ceasefire for Palestine. Kids joined in with the art table where protest art, such as watermelons, and protest signs were created and children’s books on Palestine were read. Art table volunteers: Bijal and Sahana, Mia Masters, and Simona Superkar kept the kids engaged.
As Mehfil LA’s founders, we feel immense gratitude for the coming together of the community, with volunteers, artists and audience in a night of healing, inspiration and action.
While the event was not a fundraiser per se, we raised over $2,000 in support of KinderUSA. We’re off to a strong start. Look out for updates and future events on Mehfilla.com and @mehfilla on IG, TikTok and Youtube.
Photos and video thanks to Sonya Soni and Fatima Alloo.
Event organized and curated by Mehfil LA founders, Adnan, Neel and Kristeen
Event photos by Arthur Mok of Arthur Mok Visuals.
Event photos by our friend Arturo Aguilar, who is also a talented painter and vfx/animation artist.
