10/02/2024
Late last year, distraught with grief over the genocide in Gaza and struggling with what to do next after losing my lease after 13 years in Downtown Culver City, I asked myself “what can I do?”
The answer was to create a space where the seeds of Palestinian arts and culture and humanity could continue to be sown. A space where people of all faiths could coexist. So I found a building in West Adams that (remarkably) I was able to purchase and I got to work.
This Sunday we’ll be opening Holy Ground with a discussion about Collective Liberation between Osama Silwani, a Palestinian Peace Activist and Rotem Levin, an Israeli Peace Activist. Osama and Rotem will be sharing their personal stories and their shared vision for a future in the Holy Land that is rooted in security, equality & justice for all.
But while Sunday is a beginning, it’s also the beginning of the end. After much consideration about how I want to spend the next few years, the truth is that running multiple businesses is not it -- the times we're in are calling for me to be of greater service, take a deeper dive into the healing work I share, finish a few projects I started in Sierra Leone and the West Bank, and God Willing, drop into Gaza. Holy Ground will only be open through the end of the year with a TBA schedule of workshops, events and exhibitions -- my goal is to manifest a buyer for the building and then move on.
I would love to invite everyone that has been part of TheWhole9.com, The Peace Project, The Whole 9 Gallery, and Gratitude Market stories to join us for an evening of celebration, contemplation, music & prayer and reflection & illumination.
And...oh yes...of course there will be wine ;-) Sending so much love to all and hope to see you on Sunday...please confirm here or at www.bit.ly/osamarotem
