Little #Syria Explores a Vanished #Arabic enclave in #NewYork

Little Syria explores a vanished Arabic enclave in New York which was the center of Levantine immigrant life from the late 1800s through the 1940s. For this first episode of Edge of Arabia's FREEWAY Broadcast Program, Jeddah based film-maker, Husam Al-Sayed follows artist Brian Zegeer as he prepares for the 'Little Syria Parade', a performance commemorating this little known Lower-Manhattan community. From the 1880s through the 1940s Little Syria was the landing point for thousands of immigrants from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, a rich cultural enclave that produced dozens of periodicals for the growing diaspora community, recordings of traditional Arabic music, and a literary movement that included Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet.  Husam Al-Sayed is a Saudi-based Palestinian film-maker and founding member of Telfaz 11. Scores for the film are by Dubai-based composer and founding member of Analog Room, SALAR. Both Al-Sayed and SALAR are in the US for Art Jameel's 2015 artist residency with the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA). Brian Zegeer is an artist-in-residence at the Queens Museum.Freeway: Little Syria is a special project of Armory Focus: MENAM and produced in partnership with Art Jameel.