HERitage emBODYment presents Sekhmet Unraveled

A performance that uses poetry, movement, and theatre to merge our contemporary realities with ancestral memories.
About this Event

Sekhmet Unraveled is a multi-modal, multi-lingual (English, Arabic, Fadija, Coptic) performance by the award-winning HERitage emBODYment ensemble. Created in response to the museum’s Egyptian and Nubian galleries, Sekhmet Unraveled merges contemporary realities with ancestral memories to re-author the histories of Egyptology, museum collections, and what it means to be Egyptian, Nubian, and American. From heartfelt, poetic personal anecdotes, to satirical songs and clowning, to funerary and celebratory rituals, Sekhmet Unraveled invites audiences to celebrate contemporary and ancient cultures in a museum space, and re-think how they engage with history, art, and heritage within and beyond the museum.

This performance takes place inside the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum gallery. Audience members will be expected to stand or walk during the performance. Accommodations and assistance are available in accordance with the museum's accessibility offerings. All performances are free and open to the public. For more information about Sekhmet Unraveled visit: https://heritageembodyment.square.site/upcoming

At the heart of the piece are creators and performers Sarah Fahmy and Nabra Nelson, whose collaborative vision centers diasporic voices and embodied knowledge. Dr. Sarah Fahmy is a decolonial scholartist, who works at the intersection of performance and identity politics, Arab and North African theatres, and eco-feminism. Nabra Nelson is a theatre creator, and independent scholar from Nubia (Fadijja tribe of the village of Abu Simbel), Egypt, and California. Connected by their identity stories, this ensemble emerged out of a frustration with structural inequities and mis-representation in mainstream US arts and media of Arab, African, and Muslim women.

Sekhmet Unraveled was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Foundation.