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The Cedar Tree Project

The Cedar Tree Project encompasses a body of evolving artistic work of the SWANA (Southwest Asia/North Africa)/Arab diaspora, curated by Lebanese American artist Sharon Mansur. CTP includes dance performances, visual art installations and exhibitions, as well  as engagement activities including: workshops, community meals, panel discussions, lecture/demonstrations, artist talks, and other gatherings with Mansur and visiting artists.   See below for specifics on upcoming and past works. All works remain alive in the artists' bodies, mind and hearts, and have potential for re-staging and embodied re-imagining.

​For more  information about community engagement activities please visit the Outreach page. 

2023-2024

Motion State
​Exploring the concept of diaspora through creative community workshops and film screenings
Facilitated by Sharon Mansur, with partners:
film curator Michelle Baroody  and Winona's  Frozen River Film Festival
Supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board
​Sharon Mansur is a fiscal year 2023 recipient of a Creative Support for 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 by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. 
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Wayfinding (working title)
Directed collaboration with Meryl Zaytoun Murman
Multi-media residency and public art project in Winona, MN
​Supported by a 2023 Forecast Public Art Mid-Career Professional Development grant
The McKnight Residency in Minnesota is made possible by the McKnight International Choreographer Residency Program, funded by the McKnight Foundation and administered by The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts

2020-2022

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Najla Mohamed - Photo by Leila Awadallah
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Photo from Sharon Mansur's 2018 trip to Lebanon.

Western Sahara and Palestine:
​an evening of artistic resistance against occupation

Film, poetry, story sharing, and dance to raise awareness concerning the occupations of Western Sahara and Palestine. 

1001 Arab Futures 

An outdoor multi-media dance performance/art event and re-imagined dance film, co-created by Yara Boustany (Beirut, Lebanon), Andrea Shaker (Minneapolis) & Mette Loulou von Kohl (New York City) with  Sharon Mansur (Winona, Minnesota)

2018-2019 

Lebanon, USA

A photography exhibition and residency by Lebanese photographer Fadi BouKaram, featuring his two remarkable road trips across the U.S. to visit all the towns named Lebanon

Za'atar

An evening of contemporary dance by SWANA artists Leila Awadallah (Minneapolis), Sharon Mansur  (Winona) & Leyya Mona Tawil (California)

Dreaming Under a Cedar Tree

Mansur's immersive, multi-media, site-specific solo performance, meal and discussion event, re-imagined

2017-2018 

Dreaming Under a Cedar Tree

Sharon's immersive solo event and  that catalyzed the project as a whole.
Funded by the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC), with additional support from Art of the Rural