Silk Road Cultural Center

Written by Malik Gillani and Jamil Khoury

In 2019, Silk Road Cultural Center Founding Executive Director, Malik Gillani, suffered a stroke that resulted in aphasia (a language disorder) and apraxia of speech (a speech disorder). Silk Road Cultural Center has since made a commitment to generating awareness around these little-known yet common conditions, and to showcase Silk Road experiences within stroke recovery discourse.

Silk Road Cultural Center is developing The Art of Aphasia, a live theatre production that centers Malik’s aphasia journey and his relentless determination to regain his voice. Amplifying the very intersectional story a disabled, Muslim, queer, immigrant, person of color is critical to expanding representation around neurodiversity and disability justice.

This project is supported by a grant from the MAP Fund.

Malik-Gillani-Headshot-original
Playwright Malik Gillani
Jamil-Khoury-headshot-original
Playwright Jamil Khoury