Hayati

“Hayati” by founder Kate Rafiq

The first Hayati open mic was great. I can’t remember who attended, who performed or what we all ate, but it was an amazing night. I woke up the next day, bleary eyed, head pounding, feeling sweaty.

‘Must have been a great night - but why do I feel so rough?’

‘You don’t have a hangover - you’re ill. Also, you don’t drink.’

‘Oh yes - of course - I know - but I just had the most amazing night.

‘It was a dream, you fool!’

This internal conversation continued for longer than I care to admit. But when I’d finally stopped talking to myself, I realised that whilst it was only a dream, I needed to make it happen.

A few days of thinking and planning followed. What was my objective? I wanted to make a space for Muslims to share their creativity, whatever that might be - poetry, songs, stories, comedy etc. I didn’t want to exclude non Muslims, but it needed to be a space where Muslims would feel spiritually safe and comfortable. I figured there would be loads of people in and around Birmingham that would have something to share but perhaps hadn’t found the right place to share it.

Objective - check!

Now I needed a name.

The Islamic Open Mic

Open Mic for Muslims

Creative Muslims

No, no and no…I needed something short, punchy and ‘Muslim sounding’. It needed to be an Arabic word, obviously!

But you’re not Arab and you don’t speak Arabic.

Yeh I know, but all my English options are crap.

So you’re going to steal an Arabic word because it sounds cool? Ever heard of cultural appropriation??!

Ok, ok - but I’m Muslim so surely it’s ok?

If you say so!

I knew that ‘Hayat’ meant life, but after a few minutes of googling words like ‘love, life, friends’ in Arabic, I was presented with Hayati - a term of endearment; ‘my life, my love, my good friend’. ‘Hayati’ just felt perfect. A place for Muslims to come and share a little piece of their lives, thoughts and love with friends, brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity!

Name - check!

Now I needed a venue, so when I’d recovered from the flu, I started visiting the places I’d shortlisted. Thankfully, after only two, I found Ort Gallery.

Ort had come up several times in conversations I’d had with a friend. She had been to some events (admittedly years ago) and I had learned that Ort was cool - maybe too cool for me and my dreamy ideas. But, as soon as I walked in, saw the space, met the team, found that the toilets were clean and spacious and it was a ‘dry’ (alcohol free) building, I knew this was the ideal place to hold the first and, in my mind, only Hayati.

Venue - check!

We managed to get some amazing poets and performers to join us and we had some great surprises too, like the beatboxing Nasheed twins and the elderly father of a dear friend who had always wanted to perform a naat (devotional song). The food (a communal effort) was delicious, the atmosphere was relaxed and cosy and somehow, impossibly, it was even better than my dream.

The first Hayati, hosted by @justshreen

As we discussed dates for the second event, word on the news was both dramatic and depressing; a rapidly unfolding worldwide pandemic and imminent U.K. lock down. We decided to put a pin in Hayati.2.

The weeks rolled on by and unbeknownst to me, Josie had applied for, and secured funding for Hayati to put on four online zoom events. Covid took so much from so many people. But when counting the blessings that also came, lockdown opened Hayati up to the world in a way that just wouldn’t have happened were it not for Covid. No one was allowed out, everything was online, so why not Zoom Hayati!? And these events were brilliant. Suddenly, we had artists from all around the world sharing their work with us and crucially, we were now able to pay them for their time, creativity and skill.

Our first online Hayati

Feeling uncharacteristically bold, I hosted and I even performed at one event. Well - actually I cheated and pre recorded my bit…host privilege and all! Never again though. I always loved the idea of sharing my own poetry and some of my songs, but I have come to the realisation that I am not a performer. Maybe it’s my imposter syndrome (see rest of blog post for evidence of this). Maybe it’s my soul crushing nerves, maybe it’s the fact that when I blush, I can be seen from space. Whatever it is - it’s ok! I tried it and it’s not for me.

And as for hosting, that too is better done by poets and performers who want and need the opportunity to increase their confidence, their stage presence and their skill set. Hayati is a community space. It needs to be a platform where everyone who wants to perform can benefit as much as possible from the experience. Currently, the budget allows for four headliners per event, each of whom gets paid £85. One of the headliners will also host and be paid extra for this role. Open mic performers can then become headliners at following events and so the format goes!

Our second live event - hosted by @scribingsofaninsomniac

In December 2021, we put on the second live Hayati. Hosted by the super talented wordsmith Kohinoor @scribingsofaninsimnioc , it was another beautiful evening of powerful, thought-provoking poetry from four headliners and several open mic poets. The atmosphere was relaxed, cosy and intimate and the feedback was really positive again, with several people asking if the event would be monthly. We don’t currently have the funding to allow us to do a monthly open mic, but thankfully there are several other open mics around Birmingham that have a similar vibe, meaning there is usually something happening within the poetry community in the Midlands. Check out @empower_poetry @gullycollective and @saac.uk for more poetry events.

Kohinoor hosting our second Hayati on 11th December 2021

Towards the end of 2021, I had an idea that we use the next lot of funding to pay the artists more money so that they could create a video, animation or some other art form to accompany their spoken word, song or story. With financial, work and time constraints and commitments, this kind of development isn’t something that’s always achievable for most creatives. After discussing it further with the Ort team, we narrowed the idea down, and created space in the budget for four resident poets to feature at Ort throughout 2022. Each will showcase their ‘creation’ at Hayati / Ort at the end of their residency period, to coincide with Balsall Heath Second Saturday.

Ort’s ethos of ‘Warmth’ beautifully illustrated by @sabbakhanart

In line with Ort’s ethos of ‘Warmth’, there is no pressure on the poets to create a finished, ‘polished’ piece of work. This residency offers an opportunity to learn and develop and is really about the creative process and journey. There is no doubt each poet will produce something moving and valuable, whether it is a ‘finished piece’ or not, and we hope that these residencies will help each of them take another step along their creative path.

Our first resident poet is the incredible Samira / @samirhymes, a Spoken Word Artist, Poet & Published Author from London. She will be showcasing her video and performing on the 12th March 2022. We also have four amazing headliners and a handful of open mic slots which will no doubt be filled with more talented creatives from Birmingham and perhaps further afield.

Our poet in residence @SamiRhymes due to perform on 12th March 2022

Hayati has become something far and beyond the dream I had. It has also allowed me to get paid! Imagine - having a dream, believing you can achieve something, making it happen and then somehow getting paid for it! Forgive me if this sounds boastful, I’m only sharing this in the hope that it might inspire others and to let you know that dreams literally can come true! (Feel free to grab yourself a sick bag!)

All of the Ort team are uniquely, independently and collectively, wonders of humankind, encouragement and warmth. I get the saddest of sinking feelings when I think that had I not visited the gallery on that venue hunting day, Hayati would most likely have just been a one off. Covid was coming and obliterated so many events and life as we knew it, and I probably wouldn’t have imagined taking it online. And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to pay performers for their time. Hayati now exists because of Ort and all the amazing people who have been a part of it.

It has been the biggest honour to be a part of Hayati and the Ort team, and I really can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store!