When local business owner and former Tel Aviv, Israel, resident Angie Hsu moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, and discovered that nearby Dayton had a sister city relationship with Holon, just south of Tel Avv, she saw an opportunity to connect two worlds.
Her vision was to bring the music and message of System Ali, a hip-hop band made up of Israelis, Palestinians, Russians, Ethiopians, and many others, to Ohio.
What started as an ambitious plan to host the band in person faced an unexpected hurdle when visa issues prevented the international performance. But rather than abandon the project, the collaborative team pivoted in a way that proved even more expansive in scope.
"We didn't receive the visas, and so this in-person tour of System Ali in Ohio needed to become virtual, remote," Hsu said. "And that was a really hard pivot for us to figure out how to do it. But we had all these amazing artists already involved, and they were all ready to speak up and share what they were going through, the politics, the music, the art."
The result is a multimedia event uniting local hip-hop artists with System Ali members across continents, exploring themes of conflict, identity, and artistic expression.
The main performance takes place Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Foundry Theater on the Antioch College campus. The show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25, with a student rate of $5. Tickets are available on the Foundry Theater website.
The collaboration brings together Yellow Springs-based hip-hop artists, including Jayswifa, Tronee Threat, and ArtGod, with the multi-national group to create something entirely new.
According to Jayswifa, the connection was organic and immediate.
"They speak a different language. And we speak a different language, but music is universal language," he said.
"They speak a different language. And we speak a different language, but music is universal language."Yellow Springs-based artist Jayswifa
The project extends beyond a single concert. Kevin Lydy, chair of the Dayton Sister City Committee, emphasized that workshops are central to the initiative.
"The workshops are something that encompasses the Beit System Ali framework," Lydy explained. "The idea of bridging cultures, breaking down barriers, encouraging very hard conversations that oftentimes go unsaid or unspoken."
Virtual workshops were held earlier this week for Sinclair Community College and Wright State University students, made possible by a grant from the Iddings Foundation. An additional workshop is planned at the Coretta Scott King Center at Antioch College on December 7th.
Chris Westoff, director of the Foundry Theater, described this weekend's performance as "a kind of broad storytelling piece that's going to feature edited videos, live performances, collaboratively recorded tracks, and an engaging talk back with the artists."
What makes this project particularly timely is its approach to geopolitical tension, Hsu said.
"We're engaging directly with issues that are happening on the other side of the world in Palestine and Israel, but through this process, seeing how those issues mirror what we're experiencing in America today... It's really taking some global issues and making them local as well."
Organizers said the project has received support from the Dayton Sister City Committee, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.
