Watch and comment on Facebook or YouTube

Presented in collaboration with Rooftop Rhythms, spoken-word artists based in the United Arab Emirates compose poetry LIVE in this interactive session. We invite the audience (that’s you!) to contribute words and ideas from home, and follow along as the poets create brand-new works for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Our featured artists have helped build the vibrant poetry scene in the UAE, as part of a global community that lifts up the urgent stories and diverse voices of spoken word artists.

Join us in a poetic exploration of the Festival’s theme—cultural knowledge and the environment—community and climate, journeys and the power of place, and more.

Featuring

Mohammed Anis
Danabelle Gutierrez
Jaysus Zain
Dorian Paul Rogers

Sponsors

This event is part of the Folklife Festival program United Arab Emirates: Living Landscape | Living Memory, which is supported by the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development.