“Global citizen” Nari Safavi joined Worldview on Friday to help plan an international weekend in Chicago. 

This week, Safavi recommended a symposium on artwork from the Arab Spring, a play about an Indian mathematician and a Mardi Gras concert at The Promontory.  

Art and the Arab Spring

A symposium at Northwestern University examines the art scene before the Arab Spring uprising, when artists were creating works calling for change and challenging the political establishment.

Generation 00: Cultural Practices before the Middle East Uprisings takes place at the Northwestern University Alumni Center on Saturday. The event features Abdellah Karroum, director of Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, and Brian Edwards, director of the Middle East and North African Studies Program at Northwestern University.

Math and love at the theater 

If that doesn’t fill up your weekend, Safavi recommended A Disappearing Number, a play about a legendary mathematician from India and romance. The show runs through March 9 at the Timeline Theatre in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood.

“For all of you who hate math, you may actually start to love math,” Safavi said.

Sufi soul music

Qawwali music is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia and gaining a following worldwide.

Chicago native Zeshan Bagewadi and his band The Transistors perform at The Promontory in Hyde Park on Tuesday. For a sample of their sound, listen to one of Bagewadi’s previous performances at the WBEZ studios.

Hit play above to hear more about these and other events happening around Chicago this weekend.