Mizna presents contemporary, critical, and experimental art, writing, and film centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists.

Mizna was founded as a grassroots organization to address a need for an artistic space dedicated to Arab and Muslim writers to narrate their own stories and make work on their own terms. Along with a small group of Arab, SWANA, and Muslim writers, artists, and scholars, the founding directors and board established Mizna during vibrant time in the ’90s when Asian and Black Twin Cities artists and activists were creating collectives and working together to imagine a more socially just and representative arts scene. Cofounder Kathy Haddad went on to lead Mizna as its first executive director from 1999 to 2009. Currently led by Executive and Artistic Director Lana Barkawi, since 1999, Mizna has promoted experimental approaches to art, literature, and film; work that questions and expands the forms and conceptual frameworks of Arab and SWANA culture. They publish a biannual print literary and art journal, Mizna, and Mizna Online, a digital platform for literary and multidisciplinary work reflecting critically on the current realities of the SWANA region and beyond. They produce the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, the largest and longest-running SWANA-centered film festival in the Midwest. Mizna also offers readings, film series, performances, public art commissions, and community events that have featured 1000+ local and transnational writers, filmmakers, and artists.

Jerome Foundation supports Mizna’s Fellowships program. Mizna’s annual fellowship supports two early career artists who are developing new, innovative, socially engaged work. Fellows are nominated by two advisory committees for the Mizna Lit Fellowship and the Mizna Film Fellowship. The fellowship includes Planning, Mentorship, Creation, and Engagement. The Mizna team tailors the fellowship to the needs of the artist, drawing on relationships with Arab/SWANA cultural workers in the fields of literature and film to identify mentors, and working with individuals and organizations to host artist residencies as potential sites for retreats. Mizna also creates opportunities for fellows to engage with Mizna’s programmatic work, such as the literary publication and film programming/film fest production processes. Each artist additionally engages with audiences as a part of their fellowship which may take the form of sharing work publicly and/or leading a community workshop. The holistic integration with Mizna’s processes is a unique aspect of this opportunity.