Damask Rose: A Gathering

Created by: Bahar Behbahani
Weaving team: Shamsy Behbahani, Pooran Shams, Fazilat Hakimzadeh, Mehrnoush Jelveh, Irandokht Farjad, Shahin Mazid-Abadi, Abbas & Nikoo Afshar
Run time: 4 hours (audiences may come and go throughout the performance)

Damask Rose: A Gath­er­ing is a spring cel­e­bra­tion inspired by the tra­di­tions of Per­sian Gar­dens. The work cen­ters Damask Rose, an immi­grant flo­ra from the East, and hon­ors migra­tion and hos­pi­tal­i­ty. Guid­ed by con­cep­tu­al ideas of shade, wind, immi­grant flo­ra, and dias­poric eco­log­i­cal and ances­tral knowl­edge, this performance/​installation brings togeth­er non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions, food and drink sto­ry­tellers, herbal­ists, tea prac­ti­tion­ers, musi­cians, and many oth­er like-mind­ed com­mu­ni­ties and part­ners to share a moment of joy and resilience.

• May 16, 1PM
• Rain date: May 17

Liggett Ter­race, Gov­er­nors Island

Bahar Behba­hani is an artist, edu­ca­tor, and col­lab­o­ra­tor whose inter­dis­ci­pli­nary work explores mem­o­ry, era­sure, adap­ta­tion, and the search for a sense of place. For over a decade, the Per­sian gar­den has served as a cen­tral metaphor in her prac­tice — bridg­ing per­son­al his­to­ry with wider his­to­ries of pow­er, cli­mate, and the futu­ri­ty of ances­tral knowl­edge. Her recent projects include a pub­lic com­mis­sion for the 2024 Cre­ative Time Sum­mit and par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Shar­jah Bien­ni­al 15, among oth­ers. She has received awards from Cre­ative Cap­i­tal, the Joan Mitchell Foun­da­tion, and the Pol­lock-Kras­ner Foun­da­tion Grant. A trans­plant from the land of sun, she has adapt­ed New York as her home, where she teach­es at CUNY and cre­ates space for ques­tion­ing dom­i­nant nar­ra­tives through art and dialogue.

• Program partners: ArteEast, Asia Contemporary Art Forum, Eat Offbeat, New York Kurdish Cultural Center, Pardis for Children, SAG NYC, Tea Arts & Culture
• Sound partners: Afropolka, Barzakh Cafe, Sag Radio with performers Kaïssa Doumbè, Maciek Schejbal, Malang Jobarteh, Imal Gnawa
• Weaving together with Cynthia Alberto, Weaving Hand
• Horticulture experts: Half Hollow Nursery, Hortus Life
• With the warmth of: Ahmad Tea, Kermanshah Rug
• Official hydration partner: Jabin Beverage Company
• Program conspirators: Maryam Ghoreishi and Elaine Khuu
• Botanical cyanotype workshop with artist Nalatia Nakazawa
• Movement and flower muses: Kaoru Shimizu and Milād
• Digital community partner: Nimruz
• With support from KODA and Materials for the Arts

Damask Rose: A Gathering is made possible through in-kind fabrication support through Powerhouse Arts’ 2026 Artist Subsidy Program.

• To request reasonable accommodations or accessibility services for a performance please contact us via email at [email protected].
• We recommend contacting us at least two weeks in advance of the event date.

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Presented as part of INTERVENTIONS, Governors Island Arts' annual multidisciplinary performance series that presents local, national, and international artists and invites audiences to experience work made and adapted for outdoor spaces. INTERVENTIONS is curated by Juan Pablo Siles, Associate Curator and Producer at the Trust for Governors Island.

Info: In Samanak: A Ritual of Sweetness and Strength, Afghan women gather to prepare Samanak, a traditional sweet made through hours of collective stirring a ritual rooted in patience, resilience, and community. The experience is accompanied by Afghan green cardamom tea and rose-infused Persian black tea, served with sweets, inviting guests into a moment of shared warmth, heritage, and hospitality.

Info: A planting workshop focusing on the ancient roots of Sekanjabin in Persian culture; a multi-sensory experience accompanied by samples for attendees to taste.

Info: Live floral demonstration, inviting the community to engage with the rose as both a cultural symbol and a living, seasonal presence.

Info: This Afropolka collaboration brings together Cameroonian singer Kaïssa Doumbè, Gambian/Senegalese kora player Malang Jobarteh, and Polish drummer Maciek Schejbal, drawing on vocal and instrumental traditions of Africa, Americas, and Europe, with focus on live exchange and improvisation.

Info: Goddess making using Japanese paper and paint from matcha, turmeric and hibiscus

Info: An auditory experience highlighting mixes from Iranian and SWANA artists with a focus on underground, and experimental sounds.

Info: Aragh Sagi is a raisin-based distilled spirit from Iran, long banned but still present in underground culture. Made in small batches in Yonkers with Californian raisins, Sag carries the taste of Iran’s underground—neat or in cocktails, bridging distance through spirit.

Info: Imal Gnawa stands at the intersection of traditions rooted in the deep spiritual and rhythmic legacy of Moroccan Gnawa music and bold futurism. Eilon Elikam, Mustapha Imchtka, and Atlas Phoenix weave together the organic warmth of acoustic instruments with the realms of electronic sounds.

Info: Asia Contemporary Art Forum’s diasporic artists come together for a tea-sharing activation, serving from their beloved thermoses, teapots, and cups—an assemblage of vessels through which love, hospitality, and the sacred are shared and transmitted. With Leeza Ahmady, Roya Ghiasy, Zolayzha Sherzad, Emilio Rojas, Dara Hartley and Tanasia LaBrew.

Info: The Braiding Resistance will center on Kurdish cultural practices such as hair braiding, knitting, along with reading by Kurdish poet, Sama Ali, carrying deep resonance within the Jin Jiyan Azadî movement as forms of memory, care, and resistance.

Info: Dreamweaving is a collective performative discussion within ArteEast's HIKAYAT series. Rooted in a sensory exploration through the vessel of the Damask Rose, participants share prepared offerings and move into organic dialogue shaped by themes generated from a meditative workshop. Rose-infused teas and sweets are served to participants and visitors alike. Each taste, voice and story weaves into a living tapestry of memory, history, and survival.
Participants: Aminah Al Huqail, Garine Boghossian, Mani Nilchiani, Sarah Riggs, Nooshin Rostami, Ali Ugurlu and Hrag Vartanian.

Info: A workshop by artist Natalia Nakazawa, invited by KODA, highlighting the biodiversity of trees on Governors Island and examining how our plant allies can create space for healing and grief.

Info: A workshop for kids, highlighting the immediate realities of displacement, with portable looms serving as symbols of what we carry with us when we are uprooted. Make a weaving for the collective tapestry, and make one for yourself!

Info: In this performance, participants take part in a collective rain-summoning ritual, uniting through dance and song to create a shared doll that honors the source of all life, the Daughter of Api (water).

Info: Kids will take a pause to look, smell, touch, and taste the ingredients originated along the ancient Silk Road. They will discover the origins of eight ingredients in the blend, including rose, and explore the stories behind them.

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Host or Publisher The Trust for Governors Island