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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

All content by Layla Dajani
Paul Simon performs at Bass Concert Hall on April 8, 2025.

Live shot: Paul Simon breaks the silence with ‘A Quiet Celebration’ at Bass Concert Hall

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter April 10, 2025

Paul Simon’s  first Austin performance since his retirement in 2018 proved not only a celebration of his life’s work, but also a confrontation. The renowned singer-songwriter played at Bass Concert...

Korean Music Association holds statewide K-pop dance showcase this Saturday

Korean Music Association holds statewide K-pop dance showcase this Saturday

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter March 27, 2025

For Kyra Timberlake, K-pop began as a quiet obsession in middle school that she only shared with her older sister. Now as a dancer for UT’s Korean Music Association dance group, KM8, she finds herself...

Las 5 mejores presentaciones de rock internacional que no te puedes perder en este SXSW.

Las 5 mejores presentaciones de rock internacional que no te puedes perder en este SXSW.

Layla Dajani and Lori Alvarez March 10, 2025

Nota del editor: este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 7 de marzo de 2025 por Layla Dajani y fue traducido al español por Lori Alvarez. South by Southwest atrae a cientos de bandas de todo...

Top 5 must-see international rock performances this SXSW

Top 5 must-see international rock performances this SXSW

Layla Dajani, General Life & Arts Reporter March 7, 2025

South by Southwest draws hundreds of bands from across the globe to Austin each year, offering a unique opportunity to experience music that might otherwise remain out of reach. With over 240 bands...

Polymathic Scholars art gallery auction to raise funds for Indigenous and Chicano communities

Polymathic Scholars art gallery auction to raise funds for Indigenous and Chicano communities

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter March 7, 2025

Feeling like an outsider as an international student from Shanghai four years ago, Rinka Ko found her place at UT through singing. She found a welcoming community with the Polymathic Scholars and will...

The Antiquities Action team poses for a photo at the E. William Doty Fine Arts Building on Feb. 22. The organization, run by students, faculty and staff, held a symposium on Saturday to educate the community on the destruction of antiquities around the world.

Antiquities Action celebrates 10 years of cultural heritage preservation advocacy

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 25, 2025

When an antique dealer bought an ancient Roman bust for $35 from a Goodwill on Far West Boulevard in 2018, UT’s Antiquities Action was one of the first groups to see it up close. The group of students,...

Religious studies junior Hasan Ansari stands for a portrait with his art in the Texas Union building on Feb. 17, 2025. Ansari was an organizer for the Texas Muslim Students' Association Art Festival.

Muslim Student Association represents Islamic culture through campus art festival

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 18, 2025

Greeted by Islamic poetry pamphlets, attendees stepped into the Union Building’s Quadrangle room, its perimeter lined with tables displaying Islamic art on Saturday. About 15 artists filled the room...

Audience at Zeke Peña’s discussion on his visual narrative, River ≠ Border.

Preguntas y respuestas: Exalumno de UT explora la historia de la frontera de El Paso a través de comics

Layla Dajani and Estefania De La Rosa February 12, 2025

Nota del editor: este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 10 de febrero por Layla Dajani y fue traducido al español por Estefania De La Rosa.  El exalumno de historia del arte e ilustrador...

Audience at Zeke Peña’s discussion on his visual narrative, River ≠ Border.

Q&A: UT alumnus explores El Paso border history in comic series

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 10, 2025

Art history alumnus and Xicano illustrator Zeke Peña presented his comic-style narrative series, “The River Remix,” on campus on Feb. 3. The series chronicles the Rio Grande’s transformation...

Celebrating 45 years of Austin-loved Cactus Cafe

Celebrating 45 years of Austin-loved Cactus Cafe

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 7, 2025

Cigarette smoke curls once decorated the Cactus Cafe, wrapping around audiences listening intently to late-night sets. Over four decades later, similar scenes persist as the listening room continues hosting...

Q&A: Grammy-winning former student reflects on Fiona Apple collaborations, project-sparking miracle, late-80s music scene

Q&A: Grammy-winning former student reflects on Fiona Apple collaborations, project-sparking miracle, late-80s music scene

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 6, 2025

David Garza lived at Taos Co-op on 27th and Guadalupe street during his freshman year at UT. At 18-years-old, he walked down The Drag with his guitar and cassettes, where he often bumped into up-and-coming...

A student walks down the Art Building stairs on San Jacinto Boulevard on Monday.

Antiquities Action Symposium opens dialogue on antiquities trafficking

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter April 16, 2024

After watching the demolition of precious historic sites, such as the Palmyra in Syria, during ISIS attacks in 2015, Stephennie Mulder, an associate professor of Islamic art and architecture, felt she...

Daymé Arocena, a Cuban singer, performs for a small audience in the Butler School of Music’s Live Room on Tuesday.

Juno Award-winning Daymé Arocena performs intimate musical odyssey in Live Room

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter April 5, 2024

Daymé Arocena’s explosive vocals echoed off the walls and reverberated through the bodies of audience members sitting in the recording studio-turned-intimate concert space. On Tuesday, the Afro-Cuban...

Museum visitors interact with the new exhibit Sky Dances Light located on the second floor of the Blanton Art Museum on Wednesday.

Marie Watt brings interactive installation to Blanton Museum

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter April 3, 2024

Audible from around the corner of Marie Watt’s solo installation, fingers run through a coat of hanging tin cones in the room Watt transformed into an immersive sensory space. On display at the Blanton...

Blanton resources to experience before graduation

Blanton resources to experience before graduation

Layla Dajani, Life&Arts General Reporter March 18, 2024

As students trickle back to campus from spring break, many seniors get lost in familiar academic routines that distract from the array of resources available on the Forty Acres, such as the Blanton Museum...

‘Ensemble’ exhibition celebrates UT printmaking community

‘Ensemble’ exhibition celebrates UT printmaking community

Layla Dajani, Life&Arts General Reporter March 4, 2024

Tucked away on the top floor of the Visual Arts Center, a display of letters unique in color and size flows across two adjacent walls, inviting viewers to follow. The characters spell “ENSEMBLE,” the...

Longhorn artist Farah Narejo poses in front of her self portrait hanging in Medici Roasting on Feb. 16, 2024.

Studio art sophomore explores collective history through multimedia art

Layla Dajani, General Life&Arts Reporter February 21, 2024

Amidst the steady hum of study groups with a view of pedestrians walking along The Drag, Farah Narejo researched her culture’s history from a corner table in Cafe Medici, half a world away from where...

Geocaching — a parallel world hidden beneath the surface of everyday life, not exempt from same racial biases

Geocaching — a parallel world hidden beneath the surface of everyday life, not exempt from same racial biases

Layla Dajani, Life&Arts General Reporter February 14, 2024

For Adrian Fernandez, geocaching and history go hand-in-hand. His journey began with his first cache at a museum 10 years ago and extends to the present with his adventure lab that guides cachers to locations...

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