Wednesdays, 7-9PM

Every Wednesday night is fun night at Dara Tribal Village.  Hosted by Gabriele Strohschen, local activist poet, these nights are show and tell time for all present.  We eat, talk, share stories, poetry, music- each night, new surprises.  Pot luck, bring something to share.  

If you would like to do a special performance on a Wednesday night, we are a great audience to test new material on!  It's kid-friendly, so keep that in mind.  Send info to us and we will forward it on to Gabi for scheduling.

March 20th there is a special presentation on Afghanistan for the Afghanistan Home show.  Slide presentation by Doug Hostetter and sharing by Daniel Cooper, both recently back from travels to Afghanistan.

A word from Gabi:

For several weeks, we have been gathering at Dara Tribal Village every
Wednesday night. Each time, the circle grows just a little more, as we sit on
hand-made carpets and carefully carved wooden chairs. Each time, one more
voice tells her story and  more hands join in playing a tune.

We meet at Dara Tribal Village, an ethnic gallery in Chicago's West Town.  It
is a beautiful gallery with fine crafts from many nations. We come together
at 7 PM ---whatever that means in our respective cultures and lives--- and
share food and drink and get acquainted. At the moment when we are so moved, Chicago dime-store started in the 50's, became a thrift store in the 90's,
and is now Dara Tribal Village. The Village is the dream of owners Adbul and
Rachel, who managed to bring a fair trade structure to Chicago with artists
and crafts people who sell their wares in the gallery.

Around us, we place instruments from many nations, made by strangers we shall
never meet. The voices and hands creating the circle are diverse: Greece,
Turkey, Brazil, Afghanistan, Germany, Mexico, India, Ghana, and many states
in the USA have been represented by those of us who gather. And with us have
arrived stories, dances, poems, songs, and pictures that cross all these
cultures and have us understand just a little bit more about our world, and
about our selves.

We never quite know who will join us or will join in. Yet, every Wednesday
night, there is a circle of many weaving a tapestry of friendship. While
Mitchie, the store dog, eventually falls asleep to the soothing rhythms of
our many languages, it is the moments of sharing on Wednesday nights that has
us keep alive the dream: that the meaning of life is created in those moments
when we reach within, share who we are, and reach out to those in our circle.

We invite you to come by. We invite you to continue to weave with us.