Born from the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) movement in Iran, AZADI is part cabaret, part rave: all-MENA/SWANA magic ~~ A collaborative fundraiser for Gaza between producer Amnesia Haze and MENA Film Festival which aims to build community and resistance through art. Allies welcome!
As a celebration of solidarity between interconnected struggles for liberation in Iran, Palestine, and the larger region, AZADI Cabaret & Dance Party is a showcase of all MENA/SWANA performers and DJs featuring a diverse lineup including burlesque, live music, comedy, drag, and dance. We will also have a fantastic lineup of local vendors and raffle prizes, listed below. Show starts at 9pm SHARP, come early to get the full experience!
Profits from the event will be donated in equal parts to the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, and to local Palestinian-Canadian community members’ mutual aid campaigns to help the families of Nasser Najjar and Omar Mansour escape Gaza and eventually resettle in Canada.
A dazzling smokeshow, Amnesia Haze is a queer Qashqai-Irani femme who will leave you intoxicated and a little short of breath. Since her 2017 debut, she has slinked across all manner of stages in Vancouver, Victoria, Nelson, and San Diego, including the 2024 Vancouver International Burlesque Festival. Amnesia is also the producer of AZADI Cabaret & Dance Party. Her art blends together sexuality, musicality, and even poetry at times. You’ll have trouble forgetting her.
Niki Mohrdar is an up-and-coming standup comedian based out of Vancouver. She is the co-producer of both the Bi-Weekly Comedy Show and the Big Queer Party Mix Variety Show. She has performed at Just For Laughs and was featured in the second season of YVR Funny. This year, she will be featured on the Just For Laughs Original album. She is also a co-host on the podcast, Soft For Us.
Hailing from Montreal and now proudly calling North Vancouver home, Sisi embodies a unique blend of Canadian, Swiss, and Persian heritage, adding a regal touch to her captivating persona. A self-made artist who creates her own outfits and wigs, her inspirations draw from the 1970s, Valley of the Dolls, and Palm Springs vibe with a flair of European grace.
Rojen/Saffron is an Iranian and Kurdish-Syrian dancer and performer. As a child of diaspora, Rojen has spent much of her life navigating questions of identity, culture, and belonging - eventually using dance as a storytelling medium. Through loud advocacy, she wishes to bring visibility not only to the plight of her homelands, but also to the joy and resilience of its people.
Dem Ishtar is a non-binary, uninvited guest from the SWANA, current day Syria-Jordan, Levant region, on the unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
Ishtar is the ancient goddess of fertility, sensuality, and war in ancient Mesopotamia. Dem Ishtar draws on Ishtar, Inana, and the goddesses of the Levant and Mesopotamia in their dance practice; they harness their power into motion. Dem Ishtar is a word-play on their non-binary pronouns (they/them) and a direct transliteration of the word "dem" meaning "blood".
As they put it: "I am the blood of Ishtar, her resiliency, resistance, sensuality, love, and power, flow through my veins and guide my path."
evidence doll’s arabic identity, dance background, and hardcore-inspired music project spearhead their interest in weaving various musical perspectives together through the love of drum patterns and rhythm. their textural dance sets encourage cathartic, sexy, and sweaty energetic release.
Dj, Event Curator, Community builder and Researcher, LIONESSA, expresses her Queer Egyptian-Canadian identity through unlikely blends of North African percussion Arabic scales and vocals that drive storytelling coupled with pulsating bass and an apathy towards any one specific genre of electronic music. Her selections are filled with hypnotic world sounds of darbuka and global sound influences. The purpose is to weave sounds that paint a journey of curiosity and questioning. Questioning of times, expectations and belonging.
Going by the stage name of Nimaha in the Vancouver underground scene, you'll find Nima spicing up the dance floor with his unique take on Techno, House, and Deep Tech tunes. Blending together both old school and experimental numbers, his sets are charged with extra touches of nostalgia, instrumental pieces, acapellas, and sounds echoing from all corners & cultures of the world, places where music and movement have come from. You can expect to flow through a variety of sub-genres and sounds as he creates his take on Deep & Detroit Techno to Afro & Latin Core, Bass lines and Middle-eastern drums, Hardgrooves, Minimal Grooves, Break and UKG.
