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 is 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 US.
"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."
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. The first phase of the project took place Oct. 4 with an NMSU student-led reading of the script and a reflection session. Silk Road Rising will hold the second reading Nov. 4 at the International Voices Project in Chicago, led by a professional team.
Hamilton and Lury thanked students for their engagement with the reading Oct. 4, calling it a "beautiful experience" because of the students' contributions to the space.
Playwright Fouad Teymour also thanked the students and professors for arranging an "amazing reading and discussion. It was a very insightful conversation. The students were so perceptive and talented."
"The students' performance moved me. The students' relationships of trust guided their powerful readings of the women's truths that were timely to this moment," said Dulcinea Lara, BEST department head.
After a table read of the script, NMSU students acknowledged the visceral effect they experienced from the powerful testimonies of the three women.
Digital Filmmaking Senior Ezequiel Soliz reflected, "I learned a lot in the last couple of hours, hearing the words out loud. I was able to also learn more about myself," said Ezequiel Soliz, a senior digital filmmaking student.
"The readings in front of a small audience and my peers inspired me. I acknowledge the strength one may have, even after experiencing something that could break us," said Eva Cullen, a senior theatre department student.
"I have been changed once again, this time by witnessing the truths of Ola, Samira and Yasmine read out loud by curious, committed and thoughtful students," Hamzeh said.
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 and performance Nov. 4.
In 2025, the BEST Research Center team will report on the impact of this project on NMSU students and then co-create a research-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.
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-borderland-and-ethnic-studies-department-sets-stage-for-research--art-project/s/d8080c8d-6706-4b70-85bf-453469e3c980
