Question:
WHY does Silk Road Rising exist?
Answer:
Because we need to EXPAND THE AMERICAN STORY.
Silk Road Rising is a Chicago-based, community-centered, artmaking and arts service organization rooted in Pan-Asian*, North African, and Muslim experiences. Through storytelling, digital media, and arts education, we cultivate new narratives, challenge disinformation, and promote a culture of continuous learning.

*We define Pan-Asian as inclusive of all cultures that span the Asian continent, including their diaspora communities.
Silk Road Cultural Center is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary arts organization rooted in the modern communities of the historic Silk Roads, including our diaspora communities. We embrace the arts as a catalyst for connecting people, places, histories, and futures.

Cultivating New Narratives

Creating

We celebrate the artistic legacies of our diverse communities, and amplify stories that are by us, about us, and for all.

Challenging Divisions

Advocating

We craft stories to challenge the polarization that tears at the fabric of American society.

Promoting a Culture of Continuous Learning

Educating

We use stories to share ideas, imagine new possibilities, and explore what it means to be American in the 21st century.
Polycultural Institute, the Think-and-Create Tank of Chicago’s Silk Road Cultural Center, is proud to launch its first-ever podcast series, Evolve. Hosted by Polycultural Institute’s Founder and Director, Jamil Khoury, Evolve is a mix of spoken essays and conversations with interesting and exciting thinkers, changemakers, innovators, and disruptors.
 

Rebuilding Part 2: A Litany of No’s

Syrians never accepted dictatorship as destiny, but what did they explicitly reject when they rose up against the Assad regime? In Part 2 of "Rebuilding Syria", we examine the litany of no’s articulated by the Syrian people, which ultimately led to the regime's demise.

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In Conversation

Silk Road Cultural Center's Jamil Khoury speaks with Assyrian American theater artist, Atra Asdou, about her new play "Iraq, But Funny," premiering at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company, May 29 - July 20, 2025.

The conversation also explores Assyrian identity in the diaspora, and a Who's Who of Assyrian American art makers.

For more information about the production, read HERE

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Contact

Silk Road Cultural Center
150 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1970
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone:
312-857-1234
Fax:
312-577-0849
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Silk Road Cultural Center is a dba of Gilloury Institute, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization
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