When i realized...

“There either is or is not, that’s the way things are. The colour of the day. The way it felt to be a child. The saltwater on your sunburnt legs. Sometimes the water is yellow, sometimes it’s red. But what colour it may be in memory, depends on the day. I’m not going to tell you the story the way it happened. I’m going to tell it the way I remember it.”
― Mitch Glazer







17th. November.2012
one of the most heart-felt days of my life.

Today  i realized how much i love making art, and how much i love being a performer, only if its this kind of art!


During the month of October , after chit chats and a couple of meetings, messages,phone calls and e-mails with the Artist and Curator  of  "An Urban Reflection" Nahla Tabaa and community activist and researcher, Sally Shalabi  of "Hamzet Wasel"  on how to involve "The women" in Urban Reflection.

"An Urban Reflection" a non-profit community arts residency program, here in Amman, connecting artists with communities to produce great works of art, The idea that rather than community art be a cosmetic enhancement, or lose its artistic discourse altogether, artists are encouraged to take the necessary steps to ensure that the works are a collaborative and community inclusive effort. Through research, conversations and walking through the city, they will be able to connect with their context on a more intimate level, and the site-specific works produced will be more relevant and impactful"

Sally Shalabi curated and instigated coffee sessions with a few women who lived on a street in the neighborhood. Each session had a different theme, all building up to their current urban experience living in the Qalaa. These sessions were recorded, and with their permission, were handed over to actor/dancer  Alaa Samman and artist/performer Rafic Nasereddin  from (Zakharef LAB) who narrated and performed their incredibly captivating and moving tales using different items, colors, pieces of clothes, mentioned in the stories. in a site specific nature. in the heart of  Jabal Qala'a where those women lived. 


Below are some pictures from the performance taken by the Urban Reflction contributing photographer Omar Moussly

 

The looks on the faces of the ladies when they were hearing their stories being retold were just priceless, how they interacted with the performance in a way that was really enough for us to keep going.
How they completed a sentence i was saying, winked at each other, smirked, laughed and even cried, Feeling  that they contributed and were involved in an art piece and that they own the stage.They did!

After the show, we went and thanked them for being such great inspiration, they thanked us for telling their stories and that they were very happy, touched and proud to be a part of this, that stories must be retold, for only by stories we can learn and advance.



On that moment i realized how much i love making art, and how much i love being a performer, only if its this kind of art!