UCI's 'Artistic Beats' Takes Islamic Culture to the Club

UC Irvine student Hannah Said combines her passions for helping youth, giving back to her community and her faith of Islam to put on a benefit concert called "Artistic Beats" at the university's Crystal Cove Auditorium tonight from 6-9:30 p.m. The concert line-up is an eclectic mix of spoken word poets, acoustic musicians, a West African break dance. Looking to get your rave on? The event even promises a techno light show. 

Ticket sales and proceeds from the evening's art auction will be donated to the Child Abuse Services Team (CAST) in Orange County, where Said has interned for the past two months.

"Every dime is going to CAST," she says; the social services group who teams up with doctors, nurses, therapists, police and attorneys to conduct child sexual abuse investigation.
Said--a public health science major in her senior year--hopes to raise awareness about CAST, as well as her faith's followers. She says she wants to show her campus that Muslims are normal Americans who like to create art and music.
 
"There's a muhajaba (Muslim woman who wears a headscarf) that will do a [techno] light show," she says. "You would never think a Muslim girl listens to techno, let a lone a Muslim woman who will give you a light show."

In bringing Muslim and non-Muslim artists on stage together, Said hopes the concert draws both crowds.

"My Muslim friends aren't going to a bar," she said, in reference to the Islamic rule that prohibits Muslims from drinking alcohol. "And my non-Muslim friends aren't going to the mosque, so here's a way to bring everyone together and have a good time."

Most of the artists hail from UC Irvine but graduate students from UC Davis and UC Riverside are also involved. Art pieces will be auctioned off at the end of the event, including photos, stencil art, and paintings.