Siham and Iman Hashi smiling
Somali sisters and founders of Toronto-based group FAARROW are on campus talking with students as part of the fifth and final residency of the Midnimo residency program.
Iman and Siham Hashi will perform a public concert at 7:30 p.m. March 30 on the Paramount Stage, but before they take to the stage they are spending the week working with students and community members throughout the St. Cloud area.
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Wednesday they spoke to students in Professor Eddah Mutua’s Community & Culture Class and Professor Beth Berila’s Feminist Theory class along with members from Astralblak, a Twin Cities band that is backing FAARROW during their residency this spring.
While in residency at St. Cloud State University, the sisters are meeting in class with students in music, culture and feminism courses, interviewing with KVSC and the Somali Radio Station and meeting with the Somali Student Association and Omoro Student Organization.
They are also speak with students at the college of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University, conducting a movement workshop with the dancelines from Tech and Apollo high schools, and working with youth from area Boys & Girls Clubs.
FAAROW is also doing residencies and performances in Minneapolis and Mankato through a Building Bridges: Arts, Culture and Identity program, the Midnimo partnership. St. Cloud State University is a part of the partnership together with The Cedar Cultural Center, Augsburg College, The Paramount Center for the Arts and Minnesota State University, Mankato Department of Music Performance Studies. The partnership earned a $500,000 grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, which is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. The goal is to bridge understanding with college students in a way that can reduce Islamaphobia.
