Hîlala Zêrîn

Hîlala Zêrîn is a women’s cultural organization in North and East Syria, based in Qamishlo, Hesekê, Shehba and Kobanê Canton. Founded in 2016 and formerly known as Kevana Zêrîn, it changed its name in 2020.

Hîlal means “crescent moon” and Zêrîn means “golden.” The name refers to the Fertile Crescent, the territory between the Zagros and Tauros mountains where the Neolithic and Urban revolutions began, and where archaeologists have found evidence of early matriarchal societies.

The group seeks to uncover women’s history and to promote women’s liberation. It sees itself as drawing on the culture of communal society, which dates back to the Neolithic.

Their recent video is “Koma Elefterya Xemil û Xêza Kurdî ye.” 

At the same time, the group aims to preserve and encourage cultural activity and to bring people of different ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic identities together on an artistic and cultural level. In city centers, it carries out workshops for music, theater, folklore, and painting.

The group’s self-organized diplomacy committee seeks to build networks on a cultural level with organizations and individuals outside the Middle East. Its education committee works to teach young people, aged 6 to 15, how to express themselves through storytelling, theater, and visual art.