The Rana Arab-Jewish Women's Choir

The Rana Arab-Jewish Women’s Choir is the only Arab-Jewish women’s choir in Israel and as such serves as a unique example of the possibility and potential of creative collaboration and Shared Society. We aim to provide a space for Jaffa’s Christian, Muslim, and Jewish women to meet, sing, and exchange cultural and interpersonal knowledge. Our performances feature original interpretations of folk and women's songs from various cultures in the Mediterranean, as well as songs written by the members of the choir based on their own life experiences. When these amazing women take to the stage to sing and share stories together in Hebrew and Arabic they exhibit a hopeful alternative to the usual reality of division and mistrust. Our Song and Discourse Encounters project includes samples from our musical repertoire together with personal insights and relationships of choir members along with an open dialogue with the audience where we provide audience members the opportunity to ask honest questions and share their thoughts and aspirations regarding Jewish-Arab relations in their communities. In 2023 we aim to engage with diverse target groups in Israeli mixed cities through collaborations with community centers, shelters for women who have escaped domestic violence, Jewish and Arab teachers, parents and youth movements. Furthermore, our new concert project The Girl I Was, The Woman I Am, includes multilingual folk songs about girlhood, adolescence, and womanhood while incorporating choir members' personal narratives. This project will provide a platform to artistically express questions surrounding images of girls and women including the enforcement of domestic and professional roles and the power dynamics in relationships between men and women. This program gives the female voice a stage to afford women and girls with an opportunity for empowerment and validation, while offering men and boys exposure to gender perspectives that are often hidden from public discussion.

Грант предоставил Awesome Without Borders (February 2023)