THE CEDAR TREE PROJECT
The Cedar Tree Project is a creative platform
that instigates, creates and amplifies Arab/SWANA contemporary art and artists,
inviting deeper understanding, connection, empathy, and engagement
through creative exchange.
Facilitated by Sharon Mansur
Lebanese American creative/curator
Mni Sota Makoce/MN, Dakota homelands
SWANA: Southwest Asian and North African
Some thoughts from a dance perspective, by Nadia Khayrallah
The Cedar Tree Project is a creative platform
that instigates, creates and amplifies Arab/SWANA contemporary art and artists,
inviting deeper understanding, connection, empathy, and engagement
through creative exchange.
Facilitated by Sharon Mansur
Lebanese American creative/curator
Mni Sota Makoce/MN, Dakota homelands
SWANA: Southwest Asian and North African
Some thoughts from a dance perspective, by Nadia Khayrallah
Wayfinding is an ongoing collaborative project instigated by Sharon Mansur and Meryl Zaytoun Murman in 2022. Wayfinding centers questions of home, place, and migration, as well as bodies of water and intersections between environment and social justice through a SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) diasporic lens.
Meryl Zaytoun Murman is an Arab American choreographer and filmmaker using choreographic, cinematic and live art practices to create movement pieces that explore and question popular notions of intimacy, the body, virtuosity, and gender. She works often in and between communities and cultures on processes that involve professional and “non-trained” dancers. Her work has been supported by National Performance Network Creation Fund, IN SITU European Network for the Creation of Art in Public Space PLATFORM for emerging artists, The McKnight International Choreographer Residency, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography MANCC, The Arab American National Museum AANM, among others.
Meryl Zaytoun Murman is an Arab American choreographer and filmmaker using choreographic, cinematic and live art practices to create movement pieces that explore and question popular notions of intimacy, the body, virtuosity, and gender. She works often in and between communities and cultures on processes that involve professional and “non-trained” dancers. Her work has been supported by National Performance Network Creation Fund, IN SITU European Network for the Creation of Art in Public Space PLATFORM for emerging artists, The McKnight International Choreographer Residency, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography MANCC, The Arab American National Museum AANM, among others.
[Image: Sharon's left hand is horizontal holding seven white Jordan almonds and around her wrist is a blue and white bracelet with a hamsa, or palm-shaped amulet.]
Sharon Mansur is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and culture heritage fund.
THE CEDAR TREE PROJECT STANDS WITH
PALESTINE & LEBANON
Gaza Soup Kitchen
Middle East Children's Alliance
MN Families for Filistin
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Lebanon Solidarity Collective
Lebanese Food Bank
Animals Lebanon
Artists for Palestine
Haven for Artists
Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
Museum of the Palestinian People
Anti-War Committee
PALESTINE & LEBANON
Gaza Soup Kitchen
Middle East Children's Alliance
MN Families for Filistin
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Lebanon Solidarity Collective
Lebanese Food Bank
Animals Lebanon
Artists for Palestine
Haven for Artists
Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
Museum of the Palestinian People
Anti-War Committee
1001 Arab Futures
