Product Description

Why is this Swedish ONLINE
May 23 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

“Why is this Swedish?”: A conversation about diversity and my journey with Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s play, Invasion!
A talk by Anna Bahow

The Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago feels like home to me because it has Swedish and Middle Eastern bakeries, restaurants, shops, and the Swedish American Museum and Brunk Children’s Immigrant Museum that speaks to my own heritage. My work directing the Swedish play Invasion! led me to an exploration of diversity in Chicago, in America, and in Sweden, and in the stories we tell ourselves.

This talk starts a virtual exhibit celebrating the diversity in the neighborhood of Andersonville, the diversity among Swedish-Americans, and the diversity of Swedes in Sweden.

To register for this free event please email museum@samac.org

Anna C Bahow is a Chicago-based theatre director. She is  committed to the development of new work and a diversity of voices. Critical Race theory is a central tenet of her directing work which focuses on creating counter-narratives to institutional prejudice and sexism. Her master’s thesis argued the need for diversity in both how stories are made and who makes them.  She is an Artistic Associate with Silk Road Rising which foregrounds Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern artists and an Associate Artist with The International Voices Project which brings plays from around the world in translation to Chicago. She is also an Associate Artist at Chicago Dramatists where she has directed and done extensive new play dramaturgy.  A member of Promethean Theatre, she is creating work that explores the role of story in creating identity. Bahow has received an After Dark Award for her directing, and her productions have received Chicago JEFF Awards for New Work and Use of Multi-Media. She was honored to have served as a Michael Maggio Fellow at the Goodman Theatre , was a recipient of a 2017 3ARTS WAVE Grant, and 2018 City of Chicago Individual Artist Grant. More about her work can be found at AnnaBahow.com

A reading of Khemiri’s INVASION! was presented by the International Voices Project at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago, a full Production was presented with Silk Road Rising in Chicago and Bahow used the piece as part of her Master’s thesis at DePaul University.