Silk Road Cultural Center

Silk Road Cultural Center We are a Chicago-based interdisciplinary arts organization rooted in the modern communities of the historic Silk Roads, including our diaspora communities.

We embrace the arts as a catalyst for connecting people, places, histories, and futures. Silk Road Cultural Center is an interdisciplinary arts organization rooted in Pan-Asian*, North African, and Muslim experiences. We embrace the arts as a catalyst for connecting people, places, histories, and futures.

*We define Pan-Asian as inclusive of all cultures that span the Asian continent, including their diaspora communities.

✨ Sold Out! ✨Meet the creative team behind Silk Road Cultural Center's sold out staged reading of "The Art of Aphasia," ...
07/30/2026

✨ Sold Out! ✨

Meet the creative team behind Silk Road Cultural Center's sold out staged reading of "The Art of Aphasia," the new play-in-progress by Malik Gillani and Jamil Khoury.

"The Art of Aphasia" traces Malik’s ongoing recovery from stroke and aphasia, and how he and his husband, Jamil, navigate the challenges and breakthroughs of living with disability. The play offers a moving reflection on resilience, healing, marriage, and the power of storytelling.

We're honored to share this work with a full house this Saturday. This staged reading is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and presented in partnership with the University of Chicago's Chicago Performance Lab.

📍 Theater East, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
🗓️ Saturday, August 1
🕑 2:00 PM

Thank you to everyone who reserved a seat—we can't wait to welcome you!

A new Windy City Times profile offers an intimate look at Malik Gillani’s journey as an immigrant, an artist, a Q***r Mu...
07/23/2026

A new Windy City Times profile offers an intimate look at Malik Gillani’s journey as an immigrant, an artist, a Q***r Muslim man, and a cultural leader living with aphasia. Malik reflects on the experiences that have shaped him, his work to amplify long ignored stories, and how living with aphasia has transformed his understanding of language and connection. This moving profile celebrates Malik’s enduring commitment to helping others find their voices while continuing to reclaim his own.

Read the full profile at the link in our bio.

📣 Calling SWANA Artists!There's still time to participate in Silk Road Cultural Center's artist survey. We're gathering ...
06/23/2026

📣 Calling SWANA Artists!

There's still time to participate in Silk Road Cultural Center's artist survey. We're gathering insights from artists across the American SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) theatre community to better understand the opportunities, challenges, and needs shaping our field today.

Your voice matters. The information you share will help inform future programs, advocacy efforts, and resources designed to support artists and strengthen our creative ecosystem.

✨ All participants will receive a $200 honorarium for completing the survey.

If you're a SWANA artist, we hope you'll take a few minutes to contribute your perspective—and please share this opportunity with others in your network.

This study is supported by the Wallace Foundation.

🔗 Survey link in bio.

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and we’re honored to highlight the voices of three playw...
05/28/2026

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and we’re honored to highlight the voices of three playwrights and artists we’re collaborating with at Silk Road Cultural Center. Their stories, perspectives, and creativity continue to shape conversations about community, belonging, and the world around us.

✨ Calling SWANA Theatre Artists in the U.S. ✨If you identify as a SWANA theatre artist and are currently working—or have...
03/26/2026

✨ Calling SWANA Theatre Artists in the U.S. ✨

If you identify as a SWANA theatre artist and are currently working—or have worked—in the U.S., Silk Road Cultural Center invites you to take part in our artist survey.

Your voice and experiences matter, and we’d love to hear from you.

What to know:
• You’ll be invited to share your experiences as a SWANA artist
• All responses are confidential and secure (names shared only with permission)
• We use an expansive definition of SWANA—if the term resonates, please participate
• Not sure if your work fits into the theatre industry? That’s okay—we still want to hear from you

💸 All participants will receive a $200 honorarium
📅 Submit by May 1

📲 Scan the QR code or visit the link in our bio to get started
💬 Questions? DM us .road.cultural.center

We're only one month away from the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's Full-On Cleopatra, so we caught up with the...
03/19/2026

We're only one month away from the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's Full-On Cleopatra, so we caught up with the playwright for a lively chat.

What excites you most about this production?
"The first realization on stage of any play is the most thrilling and nerve-racking part of any play’s life. Watching something that’s been in your head for months, perhaps years, be performed is equal parts a kind of exhaling from finally seeing your work on its feet, and holding your breath as you see that work take its first tentative steps. When you have two talented teams, Silk Road Cultural Center and Stage Center Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University, behind that endeavor, then, as a playwright, I can relax a little (do playwrights ever fully relax?) knowing the play is in good hands. "

What would you like audiences to know about Full-On Cleopatra?
"As with a lot of my plays, there’s an equal mix of comedy and drama. I’m not sure anything, however dramatic, doesn’t contain elements of the ridiculous. I think we are always slipping on the proverbial banana peel and being a source of much, often painful, humor. As the audience is drawn into the drama, I hope they will also be enlivened by the comedic elements."

Don't miss out on our workshop production of "Full-On Cleopatra" from April 15 - 25 with Stage Center Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University. Get your tickets today!

If you identify as a SWANA theatre artist and are working/have worked in the US, Silk Road Cultural Center is excited to...
03/10/2026

If you identify as a SWANA theatre artist and are working/have worked in the US, Silk Road Cultural Center is excited to invite you to participate in our short artist survey.

Some details we want to share with you:

* The survey will take about an hour to complete.
* It will ask questions that will invite you to elaborate on your experiences as a SWANA artist.
* Your responses will be kept confidential and secure [names will only be shared publicly with permission].
* Please note that we use an expansive definition of “SWANA” that encompasses many ethnicities and nationalities. If the term resonates with you, we encourage you to participate.
* If you consider yourself a performing artist but are not sure whether or how your work fits into the theatre industry, please still reach out–we’d love to hear from you!

Scan the QR to get started or find the link in SRCC’s bio. DM us at .road.cultural.center with any questions.

SRCC and are proud to be co-producing the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's new play, "Full-On Cleopatra" this ...
02/12/2026

SRCC and are proud to be co-producing the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's new play, "Full-On Cleopatra" this spring!

April 15 - 25, 2026
Written by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Adam Goldstein

About "Full-On Cleopatra"
A traveling soothsayer, Asim are proud to be co-producing the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's new play, "Full-On Cleopatra," this spring! es to read her fortune. As the unhappy future of the court begins to unfold, this soothsayer soon becomes a witness, then finally a participant in the last days of Cleopatra and Antony. A comedic look at the dramatic finale of one of history’s great romantic couples.

Performance Venue
Stage Center Theatre
Building F
Northeastern Illinois University
3701 W Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

🎟️ Get your tickets today! 🎟️

https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/u-pass/6605

There are just a few hours left in the year to support Silk Road stories.Your year-end gift right now keeps ourcommunity...
12/31/2025

There are just a few hours left in the year to support Silk Road stories.

Your year-end gift right now keeps our
community alive and thriving.

Together, we can make this moment shine.

Make your gift before midnight tonight.

[Photo Caption: (From left to right) Christopher Hainsworth, Naomi Zhanel Kalter, and Helen Young in our 2025 staged reading of Lyra Nalan's Road Less Traveled, co-directed by Helen Young and Maura Kidwell.]

With just days remaining in 2025, your support is more vital than ever. In a time when so many voices risk being silence...
12/29/2025

With just days remaining in 2025, your support is more vital than ever. In a time when so many voices risk being silenced and the need for understanding grows more urgent each day, your gift lights the way for a kinder, more connected tomorrow.

Help ensure we remain a space where our stories are celebrated, showcased, and honored.

Make your tax-deductible gift today!

[Photo Caption: (From left to right) Larry Trice, Cary Shoda, and Drew Slager in Emilio Williams' Couch-Surfing, one of four short plays commissioned for our 2025 staged reading of Say Gay Plays, an initiative of NYC's Voyage Theatre, co-produced with About Face Theatre and Northeastern Illinois University, and co-directed by Chip Payos and Denise Yvette Serna.]

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150 N Michigan Avenue, Ste 1970
Chicago, IL
60601

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