Inside El Souq's Ramadan Pop-Up Market: How NYC's SWANA communities are reclaiming space

Inside a small studio in New York City's West Village, the smell of spices like cardamom, saffron, and rose fills the air as people continue to stream in to get their share of Egyptian koshary, Turkish coffee, and Persian tea.

They shop for jewellery, prints, and textiles from Southwest Asia, North Africa, and South Asia, while Turkish rock music and other Arabic sounds play on vinyl and cassette tapes in the background.

For many of the attendees and vendors at El Souq's Ramadan and Eid Pop-Up, this event is not only a space to shop ahead of the holiday but also a community-oriented space that supports local businesses selling local products and goods that cater to the needs and tastes of New York City's Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities.

El Souq was founded in 2023 by lifelong friends Hanan Thabet and Dalia Ghanem, who met back in 2004 at an Arab American Conference in Washington, D.C. 

The platform became a way for the two friends to showcase brands they felt were underrepresented in the mass market and to help people shop more intentionally, to "bridge the gap of the things that I felt were missing in our culture," explained Dalia.

"This was an extension of our identities," added Hanan. "As Arab-American women here in the United States, but especially important for us as we are also mothers, so raising our children to value and celebrate who they are."

This year's pop-up arrives at a particularly resonant moment. As New York enters a new chapter under Zohran Mamdani, the city's first Muslim mayor, El Souq's presence in Manhattan reflects a broader shift in visibility and belonging for Southwest Asian and North African communities long central to the city's cultural fabric.

"There's a corner of New York that really represents everyone, and this just feels like what that means for us – a little corner of the city where it's your people and things that really speak to you and the way that you live," said Afreen Ahmed, who attended the pop-up with friends.

For the co-founders of the event, the timing of this recent historic mayoral election and the pop-up is a celebration of where the SWANA community comes from and where they are going together.

"Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians are proud, present, and showing up with full recognition that we can occupy space in a big way," Hanan tells The New Arab. 

"This is a really profound moment for our communities, and we're really excited to see this political shift in New York and to be able to host our first event in the new year, in a new New York.”

Mamdani's historic win drew strong support from the Middle Eastern, North African, Muslim, and South Asian communities, who saw his election as an ode to New York City's long history as a city of immigrants, shaped by its diverse population.

Nearly 184,000 Middle Easterners and North Africans live in New York City, according to the 2020 US Census. Similarly, almost 450,000 South Asians call New York City home.

Diaspora in bloom

The 8 February pop-up brought together more than 40 independent brands and makers, from the Middle East and South Asia, to showcase thoughtfully crafted apparel, jewellery, home goods, books, artisanal foods, and handmade gifts rooted in diasporic storytelling, sustainability, and heritage.

The concept of the market speaks to a generation of creators looking to reclaim their heritage in public spaces. 

One of these creators is Amazigh-Moroccan jewellery designer Kenza Alaoui, who describes her work as "a modern take on the Arab woman."

When Kenza launched her jewellery brand, Kenza Klay, she was advised not to promote it as Moroccan or Arab, as it would diminish its value.

"I was told to use the word 'ethnic,'" Kenza shared. "It's something that always stayed with me. I refuse because it's what I am.”

Like many of the creators and attendees, projects like El Souq have become safe spaces for SWANA and South Asian community members to be unapologetically themselves.

"Many Arabs (and) many people from the region in general, felt like this event was very much needed," shared Kenza, recalling the first El Souq event launching during the first year of Israel's war in Gaza.

"A lot of them would come and just hug us and cry it out. It was so emotional."

Across the city, a growing number of local initiatives to highlight SWANA and South Asian culture are making their mark, mostly in the digital sphere. 

This includes initiatives like the weekly newsletter Menna, which means "from us" in Arabic, that curates a roundup of cultural and social events around New York City rooted in the Middle Eastern and North African diaspora, and SHOR, which showcases South Asian experiences in the city on Instagram and Substack.

Young people want to be able to talk about their heritage and culture with pride, said Jigisha Patel, a New Jersey-based Indian artist who repurposes vintage saris into accessories, jewellery, and purses for her brand Bella Mews.

And as these cultural spaces grow online and in person, the SWANA and South Asian communities are having their moment, she said, noting that growing up, the number of South Asian brands was minimal.

"People want authenticity," Jigisha said. "There's something raw and authentic to it. There's a story behind it, there's tradition behind it. People want that."

That authenticity is part of El Souq's appeal to many visitors, who cited the ongoing boycott movement and the fact that a portion of the day's proceeds goes toward charities in Palestine.

"It is good to come to spaces where it's very community-oriented, and it's all local businesses," said attendee Nadia Helmi.

"You obviously feel good about supporting those businesses, but the feeling is also exacerbated because of all the boycotts going on, and you know you can sort of support (local businesses) ethically, and proceeds are helping a good cause."

Sandra Sadek is an award-winning, multimedia journalist based in New York City. Her work focuses on international issues, including geopolitics, migration, and trade, with a human-centred approach. 

Follow her on Instagram: @ssadek19