After a lifetime of learned censorship and oppression /‘jes.mɪən/ /’aʊdiʃəʊ/ /’ʁrɑː.wiː/?/ of Baghdad (of Iraqi, Syrian and Assyrian heritage), emerges to share joy, pleasure, and hairy relics of wisdom and truth. In a desperate attempt to make sense of the world they grew up in and the great forces which orchestrated violence and death at will /‘jes.mɪən/ originally studied international relations and anthropology and worked with/in organizations committed to social justice and change. Over the years, she met and made friends with some of the most inspiring humans doing brave, life-affirming work on the frontlines but could never meet herself until…she braved the leap into the world of physical theatre and performance. Today she is often found collaborating and devising which is the act of co-creating in ways that challenge and play with role and hierarchy. She writes, crafts stories, and performs across all mediums-theatre, live performance, film and protest queering stories, space and body. //‘jes.mɪən/ works with and through the physical body to access stories we hold and that need urgent birthing and firmly believes that individual and collective liberation can happen through intentional play and joy. Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi is the lead facilitator of NO DIRECTION HOME, the first stand-up comedy collective that platforms upcoming migrant/refugee standup comedians. She recently assisted in creating and directing IBN BATTUTA TRAVELS, a participatory piece of theatre with members of the SWANA community which opened at The Biennial Shubbak Festival 2025. Yasmeen is also a member of THE RADICAL FILM SCHOOL and worked closely with film-maker Ken Loach on his latest film THE OLD OAK. She sits on the Artistic Advisory Board of the International Theatre Company , Projekt Europa and is a regular guest lecturer on the course THEATRE AND SOCIAL CHANGE at Rosebruford College for Performing Arts. She is is currently working on the second tour of her solo show FROM THE DAUGHTER OF A DICTATOR which was co-created with a community of 15 firstgen migrant artists.
“Through this two week residency Yasmeen will explore works, concrete practices and actions around REPAIRations, accountability, power, and agency in real time. REPAIRations is understood as the basic, first expression of restorative justice. How are we individually and collectively responsible in creating and perpetuating the world we live in including our participation in systems of harm and oppression- historically and presently. For now, this research will be looking at the South West Asia and North Africa region (SWANA) sprouting from Yasmeen’s lived experience of growing up between Iraq and Lebanon. They will use this time to deepen their understanding of, and explore ????? Latmiya, a ritual used to express grief through poetry with thumping of the chest, usually done by Shia Muslims in the holy month of Muharram, and learning dances performed by women from the Kawaliyah, Iraqi Roma, community. They will use this time to ground and calibrate the body which is a recorder and a portal, and to ask questions concretely, sensorially, and viscerally. How do we continue to create, what do we create, and also what do we destroy in these times of multiple genocides? What stories are we telling, and what stories do we need to remember As this note is being written multiple genocides are unfolding, many have already been killed by this full stop. Gaza, for two years, has been documented in minute details. The horrors of what is happening is on par with the horror of the majority’s silence, and apathy. But as we speak the imperial, and colonial powers of domination and practices that have informed, framed, and produced the world we currently have are collapsing, and being intentionally undermined through a new wave of popular awakening, movement, and mobilization especially here in the so-called West. This residency is a gift at a time of collapse, that will allow Yasmeen to gently encounter themselves and other creatives, whatever their expression and wherever they may be, who are moved and deeply troubled by this most basic question. Moments of the journey will be documented through audio and film recordings, and written text. Inshallah, this time, space, and resources gifted to them will be the seed of a new project that will transcend the boundaries between the performative and the political, which is the everyday. They step into the residency with Toni Morrison’s words in mind: “I want to remind us all that art is dangerous[…]You have to know it before you start, and do it under those circumstances, because it is one of the most important things that human beings do.” ? Toni Morrison” – Yasmeen
@yasmeen_ghrawi
Yasmeen completed a Lab residency in 2025 and 2026.
