11.25.2023. “The magnitude of the devastation in Gaza is only beginning to be known, the ceasefire applied. In almost 50 days of aerial bombardments, shelling and more, Palestinian journalists and ordinary people were able, at the risk of their lives, to let the world know with videos, photos, and messages the consequences of Israel's military offensive in that small strip of Earth. But yesterday, in the first of the four days of truce between Israel and Hamas and of the exchange of hostages-political prisoners, the Palestinians had the opportunity to tour, observe, and check, without fear of being disintegrated by bombs, the apocalypse that has struck their Earth”. Michele Giorgio, Il Manifesto.
What does it mean to be Palestinian today, and what will it mean tomorrow?
What does it mean to live in an occupied territory, where someone else has decided you should live in an Apartheid regime and you may be annihilated by bombs?
Palestinians have been experiencing a perpetual journey, towards a homeland that nowadays belongs more to memory than to reality.
This meeting is our attempt to address all the sensitive topics related to the difficult situation in Palestine.
We talked, in an open and intimate conversation, to Palestinian artists: sons, daughters, and grandchildren of the Diaspora, Cultural workers and artists, journalists, activists, and common citizens who cannot remain in silence, during a second Nakba, when a part of humanity is dying in silence.
We listened and heard different voices to raise awareness and to take action, together.
From the letter written by Fida Touma to Simona Frigerio:
“It feels like words have lost meaning; actually, everything has. So many things we have known as Palestinians deep inside, and maybe have forgotten or taken for granted along the way as we tried to lead what we thought was a normal life or a life that would eventually contribute to a better future for our country and children, have come back to bite us in the face.
We knew that the world has let us down ever since 1947; we knew that many who preach about freedom of speech, human rights, and equality will not stand their ground when it comes to Palestine but still, we went on. I thought I had reached that realization when the Ukraine war happened, and we all saw how easily and efficiently the “international community” could mobilize towards what they deemed as a rogue country. But still was shocked to see the unprecedented impunity granted to Israel. All the information is out there for people to read and learn, and yet governments and official organizations are not listening to people or anyone.”
INVITED GUEST SPEAKERS
Jumana Al-Yasiri is a Paris-based, Damascus-born, independent arts manager and expert in international cultural relations. Throughout her career, she has designed and implemented multiple residencies, festivals, conferences, and artists’ support programs in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and the US. Her research and publications deal with art and migration, postcolonial discourses in the arts, and the international representation and working conditions of artists and cultural workers from the Arab region and the Global South. Jumana is also active in the field of artists’ protection and asylum seekers through different types of initiatives and public interventions.
Marina Barham, cofounder, General Director of Al-Harah Theater, President of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network from 2019-2021, and A member of IETM Board 2023. An active cultural operator in Palestine, the Middle East, and Europe since 1998, Fellow of ISPA & Salzburg Global Seminar. IETM Global Connector 2021.
A Trainer in the field of Cultural Management in the Arab World since 2006 with Al Mawred Resource, Tamasi Collective, and Goethe Institute in Berlin and Palestine. She produced many theater productions in the last 23 years and she curated the Palestine International Theater Festival for Children and Youth, Yalla Yalla Street Festival; Bethlehem Site-Specific Theatre Festival in Palestine.
Fida Touma is the Director General of the A.M. Qattan Foundation (AMQF)- a non-profit developmental Foundation working in the fields of culture and education in Palestine and with Palestinians. Before that, Fida worked with the Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme at Taawon and Riwaq- Centre for Architectural Conservation as an architect and manager. She holds a B.Sc. in Architecture from Birzeit University (Palestine) and an MA in Public Policy and administration from UMASS-Amherst (USA).
Shadi Zmorrod, born in 1979 in Jerusalem, is the founder of the Palestinian Circus School. He used to be an actor and theatre instructor when he got to know circus in 2000 during a Norwegian workshop. He took part in several circus workshops and international circus gatherings. There Shadi became very passionate about circus and dreamt about a Palestinian Circus School. In 2006, he and Jessika Devlieghere set up the first Circus Workshop in the West Bank and founded PCS. Since then Shadi has been working as general director.
Fadi Zmorrod is an award-winning Palestinian circus artist from Jerusalem. He completed his professional training at Vertigo Circus School (Italy) in 2010, and toured for years with companies such as Les Ballet C de la B (Belgium), The Royal Flemish Theater, Cirkus Cirkör/Malmö Stadsteater, Cinque Blu, etc., and also began creating his own work which toured successfully worldwide. He co-founded Doulab Circus & Dance in Palestine in 2017, under which umbrella he continues to work on various social and artistic projects.
Ahmed Tobasi took on the artistic direction of The Freedom Theatre in 2020 pledging to address the individual rights of women, men, and children whilst continuing to use culture to fight Israeli occupation. The company is renowned worldwide for its use of culture as a form of resistance and arts to fight oppression.
Adham Hafez is a curator, theorist, historian, and artist working in the fields of choreography, public and digital art, expanded cinema, sound, and text. His work has been presented widely in the Arabic Speaking Region, Europe, and the US.
Maria Elena Delia, from Turin, Italy, graduated in Physics. After various experiences in many countries around the world, where she worked as a volunteer on projects for land development and child protection, she devoted herself mainly to projects for the defense of Palestinian rights. Part of the Free Gaza Movement and the International Solidarity Movement, from 2009 to 2013 she became the main delegate for Italy in the International Coalition of the Freedom Flotilla. Since 2012 she has been a board member of the Fondazione Vittorio Arrigoni, which promotes humanitarian interventions in Italy and internationally.
Jihad AMRO, Palestinian activist, translator, and cultural mediator, from the City of (Al Khalil) Hebron, does not live in occupied Palestine because the state of "Israel" does not allow him to return, is part of the Al Ard Film Festival, which is twentieth edition, deals with the dissemination of Palestinian culture, is part of the Palestinian cultural center in Rome.
Active in defending Palestinian culture from the falsification and appropriation of this heritage, from the falsification of Palestinian history by the state of "Israel".
Grazia Dentoni, filmmaker and theatre director of Ananché Associazione Culturale, a theatre company based in Cagliari (Italy), and artistic director of Theatre of Peace, engaged in projects such as Matrilineare, a theatrical work dedicated to Women that takes place in archeological sites. Being an actress, over the years she focused on professional training for circus and street artists, schools, and prisons. She has been appointed in Cultural Institutions and Universities as an expert in theatre.
Simona M. Frigerio, journalist, graduated in history and criticism of the arts, speaks 4 languages. Journalist since 2004, editor of the online weekly, InTheNet.eu, believes in the freedom of speech and in the self-determination of people and communities.
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