DJINN & TONIC

20/11/2025

Doors: 17:00 // Admission: 100 DKK // 80 DKK

꧁✬◦°⋆⋆°◦ DJINN & TONIC ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂

When it comes to Islam and the Arab world, the news is often dominated by the same stories about hijabs, terrorism, crime, and kebab. But the world’s second-largest religion is much more than that. It is also gender, body, and queer. It is filled with stories, colors, and fantastic spiritual realms.

This afternoon and evening at turkis, you can meet author and playwright Elias Sadaq in conversation with Middle East researcher Marie Odgaard about some of the lesser-known aspects of Islam, as we move closer to djinns and demons and dive into the religion’s encounter with queerness and artistic activism.

To guide the audience safely through the world of spirits, the conversation will be moderated by author and cultural communicator Noa Kjærsgaard Hansen.

The talk takes place from 18:00 to 19:15, but doors open already at 17:00, when Bispehaven’s Youth Council will be doing henna tattoos. After the talk, we’ll of course serve a gin and tonic (included in the ticket price). At 20:00 we say thank you for the evening. The gin (not the djinn) is called Gin Bey, produced in Lebanon, and is available with or without alcohol.

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✬ November 20
✬ 17:00–20:00
✬ turkis, Vester Allé 15

✬ Regular ticket: 100 DKK
✬ Solidarity ticket: 80 DKK

Ticket includes a gin & tonic (with or without alcohol)

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ARABESQ ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂
Aarhus’ new network for contemporary art, culture, and religion from the Middle East, where artists, researchers, and cultural communicators challenge simplified media narratives and create space for the vibrant, sensual, and thought-provoking. In ARABESQ, we explore everything from poetry and punk to spirituality and street culture, meeting around the idea that the region is far more than the headlines suggest. At a time when the Middle East plays a major role in Danish politics and everyday culture, ARABESQ creates curious, informal, and sensory encounters that invite dialogue and new perspectives. Everyone is welcome.

ELIAS SADAQ ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂
Poet and playwright. Born and raised in Aarhus. In 2024 he published Djinn, a poetry collection about possession and desire, with Gyldendal. He is currently premiering his own stage adaptation of DJINN at Blaagaard Teater in Copenhagen this fall.

MARIE R. B. ODGAARD ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂
PhD in anthropology. For more than a decade, Marie has worked with intense experiences of potential and possibility in spaces between dominant norms – in relation to queerness, artistic activism, and ethics – particularly in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

NOA KJÆRSGAARD HANSEN ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂
Author, translator, and cultural and research communicator.

The event is supported by the City of Aarhus’ Cultural Development Fund and The Danish Arts Foundation.

Graphic design by Kinda Ghannoum (@kindaghannoum)

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