Khuraki: East Liberty/Highland Park

Produced by RealTime Interventions, “Khūrākī” was created by Molly Rice in collaboration with a group of recently-resettled Afghan refugees in Pittsburgh. Commissioned by the Office of Public Art as part of their Artists in Residence program* and supported by Pittsburgh’s refugee resettlement community and many other partners, Khūrākī (meaning “eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) will take place in four locations across Pittsburgh from late March to early May. The series will celebrate the beauty of Afghan culture, music, and food through “theatrical portraits” of five strong women who will forever be Afghan but have recently become Pittsburghers as well. Divided into 2 parts, Part 1 events (Millvale and East Liberty/Highland Park) will focus on the Afghan New Year celebrations. Part 2 events (Oakland and North Side) will feature celebrations of life changes and Ramadan.

For the events, professional actors chosen by the women themselves will represent each woman, telling their stories while the women gain experience cooking Afghan dishes together for the audience, in service to their central goal: to open the first Afghan food business in Pittsburgh. The cast includes Tressa Glover, Alex Manalo, Krystal Rivera, Kelly Trumbull, and Ashley Loren Williams. Each performance will feature Afghan food prepared by the women, Afghan-inspired music (arranged and performed by graduate music students from Carnegie Mellon University) and moments of immersive cultural experience.

*Office of Public Art residencies are produced with support by the City of Pittsburgh, The Fine Foundation, The Buhl Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Opportunity Fund, Pittsburgh Partners for the Arts, and the Our Town program of the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional funding support has been provided by a Community Development Block Grant and Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts.