Silk Road Rising is a community-centered art-making and arts service organization rooted in Pan-Asian, North African, and Muslim experiences. Through live theatre, digital media, and arts education, we challenge disinformation, cultivate new narratives, and promote a culture of continuous learning.
At Silk Road Rising we understand that representation matters; it molds perceptions, informs conversations, and influences policies. We view our work as an intentional strategy to shift and expand our communities’ narratives, and to assist other organizations in their efforts to include Pan-Asian, North African, and Muslim stories.
*Silk Road Rising defines "Pan-Asian" as the cultures that stretch from Japan to Turkey and from Kazakhstan to Indonesia, including their diaspora communities.
Founded in 2002 by husbands Malik Gillani and Jamil Khoury, Silk Road Rising (originally Silk Road Theatre Project) began as an intentional and creative response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We recognized that the consequences of that catastrophic day would reverberate for years to come, posing unique and urgent challenges for artists of all backgrounds. It would, moreover, underscore our commitment to educating, to promoting dialogue, and to healing rifts via the transformative power of storytelling.
Harnessing that power, we set out to challenge the ideology and hatred that fueled the 9/11 attacks and the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim backlash that immediately followed. Our vision was to counter negative images and stereotypes of Middle Eastern and Muslim peoples with representation grounded in authentic, multi-faceted, and patently human experiences. We’d center politics that were anti-racist, anti-colonial, and pro-feminist, and tell stories that were by us, about us, and for all.
