Narratio is a global platform for youth empowerment through creative expression, publishing content from over 18 countries across three continents.
Narratio is a global platform for youth empowerment through creative expression, publishing content from over 18 countries across three continents.
The Narratio Fellowship and Artist-in-Residence Program brings artists together with resettled refugee youth Fellows to participate in a year-long storytelling and leadership program. The program offers resources and opportunities for refugees and recent immigrants to reflect on and share their stories, and those of their communities, through artistic expression. It provides youth fellows at transition points through H.S. and college with academic mentorship and advising through partnerships with local organizations, schools, and universities.
For the very first time, the 2021 Narratio Fellowship featured two cohorts: photography and poetry. Led by artists-in-residence Khadija Mohamed (‘19 Narratio Fellow) and Stefano Castro, Fellows collaborated across both mediums to craft poems and photographs showcasing relationships of care and caretaking. Presented in collaboration with National Geographic and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 2021 Fellowship culminates in a series of workshops, exhibits, and performances.
Photo Cohort
Left to right from top row: Ali Sarraj, Alaa Laila, Rawah Almelhem, Sadiya Ahmed, Zakariye Sambul, Safia Adam, Mlasi Daniel, Abdiaziz Aden, Dadiri Abdi
Poetry Cohort
Left to right from top row: Amira Mohamed, Yasmine Kanaan, Suhaib Fakhr, Ryanne Kanaan, Ladan Farah, Ahmed Mohamed Fakhr, Abdi Habseme, Justo Antonio Triana, Zamzam Mohamed
Fellow Sadiya Ahmed, Photography Cohort
Every year since 2019, Narratio Fellows begin their journey with a month-long, full-time summer intensive program focused on storytelling in a shared artistic medium. In 2021, photography Fellows worked with Colombian-American photographer Stefano Castro (artist-in-residence) and award-winning National Geographic photographers Amy Toensing and Matt Moyer, and the poetry Fellows worked with writer and community organizer Khadija Mohamed (artist-in-residence and a 2019 Fellow herself).
The 2021 summer intensive included in-person and virtual sessions, trainings, and site visits with partners such as Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communication, the Everson Museum of Art, WAER, #MeWeInternational Inc., and Virginia Public Media.
Photography Fellows pose for award-winning photographer and Syracuse University Professor Gregory Heisler
Metropolitan Museum staff across the Education, Object Conservation, and Ancient Near East departments held weekly sessions with the Narratio Fellows centered on storytelling and caretaking around objects.
Staff include Sarah Graff and Kim Benzel (Ancient Near East), Anne Grady (Object Conservation), Darcy-Tell Morales (Education) Anna Serotta (Object Conservation), Emily Blumenthal (Education), and J-F Laperouse (Object Conservation).
The Fellows returned to NYC after a two-year hiatus. During their three-day trip, Fellows held a performance and took part in first-ever seal rolling workshop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and visited both the Bronx Documentary Center and the International Center for Photography for intimate tours with staff and artists.
Facilitator Adiba Alam holding up her Sumerian Seal impression. The seals are more than 3,500 years-old.
2021 Narratio Fellows prepare for their performance at the Met.
Fellows and program staff pose with Met collaborators after the Narratio Fellowship performance on November 23.
Sarah Graff, Associate Curator, Ancient Near East Dept at theMetropolitan Museum of Art guides Photography Fellow Safia Ahmed during a seal rolling workshop.
2021 Photography Fellow Mlasi Daniel checking her Sumerian Seal impression.
Fellows visit the International Center of Photography, New York. A guided tour was led by staff member and photographer Anna Selle.
Fellows visit the Bronx Documentary Center, New York. Founder Mike Kamber and Image Curator and Editor Anne Tucker discussed photography, stories of their careers and currently displayed works at the center.
The 2021 Narratio Fellows hold their first performance and showcase “Conventions of Care” at the White Branch Library in Syracuse, NY.
Conventions of Care performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
2019, 2020, and 2021 Narratio Fellows pose with Fellowship co-directors Ahmed Badr & Brice Nordquist and program coordinator Gemma Cooper-Novack.
Sarah Graff, Kim Benzel, Anna Serotta, Darcy-Tell Morales, Emily Blumenthal, J-F De Laperouse, Anne Grady, Marlene Yandrisevits, Emily Kenny, Jacquelin-Steinberg Di Stefano, Mohsin Mohi-Ud-Din, Angela Massino, Mark Cass, Kofi Addai, Hussein Yerow
The Narratio Fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Bob & Margaret Patricelli, National Geographic, Vision Workshops, Syracuse University College of Arts & Sciences, and the North Side Learning Center.
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