11REFLECTIONS: NYC to Mark 25th Anniversary of 9/11 at HERE Arts Center

Art2Action will present 11Reflections: NYC on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 at HERE Arts Center for two special performances only on Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12 at 7:30pm.

Presented in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th, and the decades of war that have followed, 11Reflections: NYC brings together acclaimed New York artists and special guests to center voices that have too often been absent from the national conversation on the impact of 9/11-particularly MENA/SWANA and artists of color-asking how we commemorate, what happens after, and whose voices are included when we remember.

11Reflections: NYC draws on Lebanese American theatre-maker Andrea Assaf's seminal work, Eleven Reflections on September - a Spoken Word and multimedia performance with live music, exploring Middle Eastern American experiences, Wars on/of Terror, and 'the constant, quiet rain of death amidst beauty' that each autumn brings in a post-9/11 world. This special NYC production is the culmination of a multi-year national series of devised works, Eleven Reflections on the Nation, which examines the lasting cultural, political, and personal impacts of the post-9/11 era through performance, poetry, music, testimony, and community dialogue.

The New York cast will feature award-winning writer, performer, and director Andrea Assaf (2026 McKnight National Playwright, 2024 Joyce Award), vocalist Lubana al Quntar (First Arab Opera Singer from Syria), Music Director & Violinist Eylem Basaldi (Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), and special guests such as 9/11 survivor and long-time HERE affiliated artist James Scruggs (2024 Guggenheim Fellow). Contributing writers will also include legendary Palestinian American poets Naomi Shihab Nye (2024 Wallace Stevens Award, and multiple Lifetime Achievement Awards), Suheir Hammad (2009 American Book Award, and performer in 2003 Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam), and more. The visual design will feature Video Art by London-based projectionist Eva Auster, who also co-created the digital film version of Eleven Reflections on September (Best Experimental Feature, 2021 Silk Road Cannes Film Festival, plus 20 Official Selections).

Tickets ($30) are available for advance purchase now. The performance will run approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission. Both performances will be followed by a community dialogue with the artists.