All welcome, pre-registration required

This immersive and experiential workshop explores waiting as a devotional act through silence, poetic repetition and gentle movement. Inspired by mystical traditions and the unseen labor of longing, participants are invited into a meditative space to reflect, move and listen—becoming living nodes of connection across distance. Through stillness and intention, the workshop offers an intimate encounter with uncertainty, surrender and the sacred in slowness and community. Participants can expect a quiet, reflective atmosphere with guided silence, embodied gestures and space for personal contemplation.

This programme is organised by the Assembly 2024-2025 member Syed Haider as part of the 2025 Youth Takeover.

Faraz Ali is a performance artist and writer rooted in experiential design. He draws threads from regional intellectual traditions at the crossroads of disciplines to provoke critical thinking and weave experiences to celebrate public imagination. Ali explores the mystical tropes and concepts articulating the crossroads of South Asian and Middle Eastern literary traditions, with an emphasis on melody, lyrical meditation, interplay of themes, meaning-making and wonderment. Over the past decade, he has studied Urdu Ghazal as both a creative tradition and a sociocultural phenomenon, and established a global community through his online platform, Zer Zabar Paesh. Ali has performed for regional and international institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Salam Festival, Art Dubai, Art Jameel, Alserkal Arts Foundation, Emirates LitFest, Akademy Dubai, Dastaangoi, Theatre of Digital Arts and Adidas.

Syed Haider is a member of the 2024-2025 cohort of the Assembly. He is a multidisciplinary artist, an award-winning poet and the author of ‘Anyway, Don’t Be a Stranger: A Collection of Poetry & Prose’. His practice explores themes of love, grief, nostalgia, culture and identity, through poetry, filmmaking, visual art and spoken word. At the heart of his work is community: he hosts open mic events which continue to pave the way for artists to express their capabilities.