Eid Around the World Family Program

Asia Society and The Culture Tree are please to present a virtual Eid Around the World Celebration! 

Eid marks the end of Ramadan — a time of fasting, charity and spirituality — and is celebrated by Muslims around the world. Eid Around the World will present families with opportunities to explore their creativity by creating artwork inspired by Arabic calligraphy, explore different worlds through storytelling and dance, create 3D Eid cards that they can share with loved ones, and cook traditional treats.

This event will feature a performance of the story, Reinterpretation of Eidgah, a beloved classic Eid book from India, which will stream live at 11 a.m. This segment will share a performance of the story of Eidgah, written by 10 year old Indian-American Nikhil Sethi and performed by Preeti Vasudevan, Artistic Director of Thresh. She will perform using the fundamentals of Indian dance-theater including abhinaya — the term in Indian traditional dance for "expression" and “mudras” (hand gestures) that help bring the story to life. 

All other elements of the virtual Eid Around the World Celebration will be on our website for you to explore at home at your own pace. The link will be live here at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 24. 

Other elements of the event include: 
Calligraphy with renowned Iraqi master calligrapher and architect Taha Al-Hiti, who will share the history of calligraphy and also share some tricks to make calligraphy animals. He has also created some Eid related calligraphy coloring sheets for children.

Cooking and recipes for Eid with Indian American chef and television personality Maneet Chauhan, who will give tips to creating delectable Eid treats for kids to prepare at home.

Create 3-D Eid cards that you can send to your loved ones during social distancing. UrduMom Tamania will provide videos on how to create these, and she will also share tips on how to celebrate Eid with stay at home festivities and decorations.

Storytelling with Hena Khan, a Pakistani-American author of picture books and middle grade fiction. Hena will read from her books, Night of the Moon and More to the Story, as well as share a video interview. 

About our partners:
The Culture Tree is an organization that promotes cultural literacy about South Asia through language and educational and cultural programs. Their goal is to create empathy, respect and understanding towards all different cultures and further inclusivity, while still helping address questions about Identity with heritage cultures.

The Culture Tree partners with museums, galleries, schools and libraries to implement their classes and programming. Programs include celebration of key festivals and events, puppet shows, bi-lingual storytime, mindful eating, mindfulness and language classes in key South Asian languages.

Thresh is an organization whose mission is to create productions which foster provocative dialogue around questions of identity, and focus on our relationship with heritage cultures within the context of contemporary life. The Red Curtain Project is a new storytelling initiative dedicated to fostering empathy, inclusion and compassion through the wisdom of stories, ancient and modern, from the Indian subcontinent.