We are honored to welcome Palestinian artist Ayed Arafah as our first State of Water guest in 2024. Ayed’s art has been featured around the world from Cairo to Oslo to exhibits across the United States. (2:30) He became beloved by many folks within our Michigan community during his artist residency at Earthwork Farm several years ago. (4:40) Ayed reflects on his sense of home and how being born and raised in the Dheisheh refugee camp has shaped his life. (7:00) Ayed shares how he engages art as a powerful tool to raise awareness and to create a space of freedom and imagination in the midst of a life lived under occupation and (9:20) poignantly shares about his relationship with water and his own painful disconnection from the nearby seas – living in a reality where he is able to travel and enjoy the Great Lakes but is unable to access the neighboring and culturally significant Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. (11:30) This sense of disconnection from the sea inspired his moving piece, “Sea Package,” created by sea water sent in bottles to Palestine from all around the world. (19:05) We also get a personal update from Ayed on the horrors of the current situation in his homeland.

You can follow Ayed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayedarafah/

/// EPISODE 40

/ Ayed Arafah interviewed by Seth Bernard
/ Produced, edited and mixed by Dan Rickabus and Chris Good
/ Narrators - Alex Smith, Ben Darcie, Dan Rickabus, Jenny Jones, Angela Gallegos, Rachel Marco-Havens
/ Graphic by Chris Good
/ Theme Music - Mike Savina, Seth Bernard & Dan Rickabus
/ Featured Music - “Homestretch” by Ecotone, “Authors (instrumental demo)" by Dan Rickabus, and “Cindy’s Waltz” by Seth Bernard

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