Fatimah Durkee

Hi this is Jessica (friend of Fatimah) and Saidah (sister of Fatimah). We are fundraising in the memory of our beloved Fatimah to fill her last wishes: to have a Muslim burial in the United States and to support for her wife Astrid and their non-profit organization Passa Ao Futuro during this challenging time of grief and transition.

Astrid and Passa Ao Futuro need your help in an incredibly challenging time. Astrid has lost both the love of her life, her wife and business partner in a sudden recurrence of cancer that took her within weeks. Fatimah wished to pass in the United States but was too weak to travel. Her final wishes were to have a Muslim burial and to be buried in her family cemetery in Virginia.

The costs of transporting Fatimah to the United States for burial are enormous and unforeseen, and her final medical bills are still coming in. Astrid and Fatimah’s family are in a highly challenging position managing their grief and these mounting expenses.

After these expenses are covered, and Fatimah is laid to rest, Astrid needs a period of rest, renewal and time to plan the future of the baby they created together, Passa Ao Futuro.

We are raising funds for her to find this space in peace, stress-free while beginning to build the future of Passa Ao Futuro.

I’m sure everyone has heard Fatimah talk about Passa Ao Futuro. It is a non-profit organization run with Astrid that aims to preserve, activate, innovate and celebrate traditional crafts in Portugal and beyond through documentation, design and organization. They have several different initiatives, such as collaborative residencies, summer schools and exhibitions, among others. Astrid will need to hire a collaborator to help make their dream come true at Passa Ao Futuro while they find their new ground as an organization.

In Fatimah’s final week Passa Ao Futuro, alongside an incredible list of EU projects, was awarded a prestigious EU grant (Creative Culture 2022). The award allows them to map and document traditional Portuguese crafts and to create a residency program pairing traditional Portuguese artisans with visiting designers. Fatimah was thrilled and was already sharing her ideas for this residency with Astrid in her final days.

The critical funds needed will pay for Astrid to keep Passa Ao Futuro thriving. This includes fixed costs for 3 months, hiring an archivist to help preserve Fatimah’s work and photos for Passa Ao Futuro, and a collaborator for Astrid to move the organization into its new existence without Fatimah but with her blueprints and energy integrated into every step.

Fatimah wanted Passa Ao Futuro to keep creating a space for artisans and designers to thrive sustainably and grow. She asked many of us to look after Astrid during this incredibly impossible and fragile time. This fundraiser is one way that we can do that.

Let's do it together as a community; any contribution helps.

With love,

Jessica and Saidah