Reclaiming My Assyrian Identity, Tenise Marie, Genocide Awareness Week 2025

Описание: Tenise Marie is an Assyrian-Canadian songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist based in Nelson, British Columbia.

Raised in the remote mountain town of Argenta, BC, Tenise developed a deep love for music, shaped by the folk traditions of her early years. Influenced by iconic singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, she blends vocal stylings from Soul, Gospel, R&B, and jazz while exploring the sounds of her Middle Eastern roots. Her music weaves these diverse influences into a soulful, lyrically rich tapestry that invites reflection on our shared humanity.

Her signature sound pairs luminous vocals with acoustic instrumentation, creating a unique fusion of Western and Eastern folk—an expression of her mixed European and Assyrian heritage. Olivia Herring (Music Mecca) described her ballad Drawn to You from the 2021 album Storm as “an emotional experience… capturing coming of age, love, and exploration.”

Tenise is currently recording a new album, set for release in 2025, featuring songs from her Research & Creation songwriting project with the Canada Council for the Arts—born from her journey to the Assyrian homeland in Iraq with GISHRU: Bridge to Assyria.

Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation Genocide Awareness Week 2025 March 31 - April 4, 2025
Remembrance, Memorialization and Repair

With special focus on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide and the murder and displacement of Native American communities, Genocide Awareness Week 2025 will bring different cultures of remembrance, memorialization and repair after genocide in conversation with each other. The importance of survivor testimony, the need to bring perpetrators to justice, the power and
limits of representation in text and art, as well as the difficulty to represent the complexity of genocide through memorialization are shared features of confronting genocide. Equally important is the need to counter genocide denial and distortion. Starting from common themes such as these, GAW fosters dialogues among survivors, academics, activists, artists, and government officials through presentations, performances, discussions, and exhibits.