'Barcelona calling Palestine': Palestinian artists beyond the tragedy they are going through

BarcelonaWhen the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) decided that it would dedicate a cycle of performing arts to Palestine, The war with Israel in October 2023 had not yet broken out.With the start of the offensive in Gaza, TNC director Carme Portaceli asked the Ministry of Culture what they were going to do. "They told us to go ahead with it anyway, that they would support us," says Portaceli, and so they did. The series Barcelona calling Palestine will bring ten artistic offerings to the TNC from April 9 to 13, with the aim of "breaking clichés about the Arab world" and "turning art into a form of resistance," says Portaceli. This is the second edition of the series, which aims to unite several Mediterranean cities through the performing arts and which in 2024 focused on artists from Beirut.

"The spirit of the program is to give the broadest possible view of contemporary Palestinian creation," explains the series' advisor and coordinator, Anne Goalard. The artists visiting Barcelona come from cities such as Haifa, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, and most grew up in refugee camps or in exile. "Their performances are marked by an urgency to speak about the Palestinian people, their history, and their struggles," notes Goalard. Although the war and its consequences resonate in the series' artistic offerings, they also go beyond. "Palestinians can't be reduced to the plight they go through. We want to showcase the community's sense of humor and love of partying. They're the best DJs in the world," Goalard emphasizes.

Lluís Marco plays a famous Palestinian poet.

One of the formal characteristics of Palestinian theater is that the plays are often "monodramas" starring a single performer. This is explained, according to Goalard, "by the lack of resources and the need to travel very easily from one Palestinian territory to another, but also by the very strong relationship between theater in the Arab world and storytelling and poetry." The gazelle of Akka, by Raeda Taha, is one of these proposals. Taha was Yasser Arafat's press secretary when she was 22, and when she turned 40, she decided to radically change jobs and dedicate herself to theater. In this piece, she tells the life of the Palestinian writer and political activist Ghassan Kanafani. Another monologue in the series is Taha, by Amer Hlehel, which tells the story of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali and which will be performed on stage by Lluís Marco.

One of the highlights of the series is Yes daddy,by Bashar Murkus and Khulood Basel. According to Goalard, it's "a magnificent piece about old age, manipulation, and the relationship between parents and children." After its run in Barcelona, it will travel to the Avignon Festival. The TNC will also host two dance and acrobatic performances: Losing it, by Samaa Wakim and Samar Haddad King, and Awalem, by Ashtar Muallem, Clément Dazin, and Émile Saba. There will also be a space for music, with Kamilya Jubran—"a world reference in Arab and Palestinian song"—and Sarah Murcia.

The series is completed with a DJ session by Radio Alhara and Wonder Cabinet and two installations. The land's heart is greater than its map, Barcelona-based Palestinian actor Ramzi Maqdisi will lead a guided tour of a space that seeks to build bridges between Catalonia and Palestine. And in Dear Laila, the artist Basel Zaraa will build a space that attempts to answer the questions his young daughter asked him about family history.