Decolonizing the Heart: Celebrating the Song of the Mother

For any human who is a Mom, who has a Mom, and is held by the Mother.

Sunday, May 10

⏲ 10AM PT - 1PM ET - 6PM GMT

▶ Join Aviva Arts’ Artistic Director Debórah Eliezer and special guest Amal Bisharat, Director of Aviva Arts' latest work in development, SWITCH via Zoom.

◎ Decolonizing the Heart: Celebrating the Song of the Mother ◎

Join Amal Bisharat and Debórah Eliezer on Mother’s Day for a creative dedication to all the ways we honor the Mother. Through song, guided meditation, ritual, and reflection, we’ll explore practices that root us in our lineage, collective care, and compassion.

Themes we’ll explore include:

• Embracing the Divine Feminine
• Re-parenting ourselves and nurturing the feminine within
• Honoring the wisdom and lessons from our mothers
• Letting go of shame and societal pressures
• Connection, creativity, and collective care

This participatory session may include singing, personal reflection, writing your own lines, sharing in dialogue, and guided meditative practices. Open to all genders and ages. Invite your Mom, your child, or a friend, and celebrate the divine feminine within us all.

No prior experience in singing, meditation, or ritual is necessary: all are welcome to participate!

🔴 Registration: here on Eventbrite!

🔴 Fee: $25* per session

or pay what you can • Discounted Full Journey Pass available!

🔴 Join us via Zoom: The link will be sent to your email after registration.

🔴 Bring:

• BYOP! Bring Your Own Pillow for meditation
• A notebook and an object or photo that reminds you of your own Divine Feminine or of a person who “Mommed” you, for our virtual collective altar

*Eventbrite fees will be added

Decolonizing the Heart is facilitated by mixed-identity folks with roots in Europe, the Americas, occupied Palestine, Israel and the greater SWANA region. We are in solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation and unequivocally oppose the violence and injustices perpetrated by Zionism. We welcome anyone seeking community connection and tools for self-care.

Financial & Values Statement

We invite you, if you are able, to align your payment with your values.

All our artists navigate a systemically inequitable and unstable financial landscape during ongoing genocide, racism and war. Your contribution directly supports their ability to continue creating, teaching, and sustaining their work.

If you have the financial capacity, we encourage you to choose a higher tier, this is a direct way to put your values into action and support marginalized artists.

At the same time, we want this space to remain accessible. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

If cost is a barrier, please reach out to us, or contribute at the lowest tier available, whatever is possible for you.

_______________________ Meet the facilitators ___________________________

Amal Bisharat is a Palestinian-American multidisciplinary artist— a director, producer, writer, musician, actor and photographer. She is Artistic Director & Co-founder of Meem Collective م and creator of "Mornings in Jenin Musical,” adapted from susan abulhawa’s best-selling novel. In 2023, as Artist-in-Residence with Golden Thread Productions, she co-produced and directed for ReOrient Festival of Short Plays and directed an online reading of The Gaza Monologues by Ashtar Theatre-Palestine. Bisharat serves on the board of MENATMA (MENA Theater Makers Alliance) and she is grateful to have received support for her work from the following organizations: San Francisco Arts Commission Artist Grant (2023), Theater Bay Area CA$H Creates Grant (2022), TBA Arts Leadership Residency Grant (2023), Investing in Artists: Artistic Innovation CCI (2024), Zoo Labs: FUND (2024), Doria Feminist Fund (2025).

Debórah Eliezer is an Arab Jewish theater maker, writer, social activist, post-zionist and California fire survivor, is Founder of Aviva Arts an Associate Artist with Golden Thread and serves on SWANA Alliance of TheatreMakers Board. Her work focuses on disrupting assumptions about art, human values and society. She has devised and performed in numerous world premieres, recently creating the multidisciplinary walkthrough installation and live performance Burning Wild with Aviva Arts in SF. With foolsFURY, Eliezer wrote and performed (dis)Place[d] about Iraqi Jews,which toured the US and UK as well as 15 other world premieres including producing the FURY Factory Festival of Ensemble and Devised Theater for 15 years. She holds a BA Cum Laude from SFSU and a certificate in Sound, Voice Music Healing from CIIS. www.avivaarts.org