IMMERSIVE | IMPROVISATIONAL DANCE | LIVE MUSIC | FUTURISTIC | COLLABORATIVE | AUGMENTED REALITY

Aemida(أعمدة) . Columnata, reveals the Arabic-Mexican communities of San Diego through immersive improvisation. It is a lovely story conjured by Syrian masons and Mexican maidens to shed light on San Diego’s early Arab immigrants and their familial and business connections to Mexican families. ‘Aemida(أعمدة) . Columnata excavates language, design, and structure to reveal narratives that unexpectedly traverse literal and metaphorical borders. The layers of complex identities, translations, and mistranslations will be recorded as participatory conversational outcomes. Specifically, ‘Aemida(أعمدة) . Columnata follows San Diego’s early Arab immigrants from over a hundred years ago who helped build San Diego into a modern city during two world expos and beyond. It reimagines how much of Balboa Park, constructed by “Syrian” masons, settled and married into Mexican families. Though called Syrian, the immigrants were from villages and cities in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria. Some construction businesses continue to exist today, and others are visible on San Diego’s older sidewalks, incised with Arab surnames of masons. The performers include dancer Nadia Khayrallah, oud player Clarissa Bitar and artist Doris Bittar as narrator.