Nation Building on stage--from El Hakawati to Ashtar Theatre

Mr Edward Muallem will give a brief intruduction about Palestinian theatre from 1920-2013, and then to take El Hakawati and Ashtar Theatre as examples to speak in more details about the theatre movement in contemporary Palestine. Ashtar theatre is a unique group in Palestine. It is 3 organizations in one. There're three major programs under the umbrella of ASHTAR theatre: 1) Teachers training program: drama training for Adolescents and school teachers; 2) Theatre of the Oppressed Program (Locally, Regionally and Internationally); 3) Making of experimental theatre productions. Since the establishment of ASHTAR, most of the actors and theatre technicians in Palestine are the graduates of Ashtar, even before the opening of the first acting academy in Palestine 4 years ago.

After leaving El Hakawati, in 1991, Edward and his partner, Iman Aoun, established Ashtar for Theatre Productions and Training as a new initiative to set up the first drama training program in high schools in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Undertaking such a project in the unstable political environment of the first Intifada was a great challenge!

Edward Muallem is the main trainer and Joker at Ashtars’ Theatre for Oppressed Program locally and internationally. At the same time he is the Acting Director of the International theatre of the Oppressed Festival organized by Ashtar theatre in Palestine.  

 Reading: Kefiyyeh/Made in China

In this play by a young Palestinian playwright, through her unique language, we might be able to realize how persecution and resistance occur under the eyelids of daily life. They're brutal and ongoing...

                                                                ── Zhao Chuan

 
剧作：达丽亚. 塔哈
翻译：庾凯
演出：草台班
演出成员：庾凯 刘念 吕律 于玲娜 赵琼 秦冉 周硕 康纳利 赵川 吴加闵
导演：赵川
执行制作：周硕
 

Playwright: Dalia Taha
Translator: Yu Kai
Presented: Grass Stage
Performers: Yu Kai, Liu Nian, Lu Lu, Yu Ling Na, Zhao Qiong,
 Qin Ran, Zhou Shuo, Christopher Connery, Zhao Chuan, Wu Jia Min
Director: Zhao Chuan
Executive producer: Zhou Shuo

  
达丽亚. 塔哈
达丽亚. 塔哈1986年出生于柏林，在拉马拉(约旦河西岸)长大成人。她曾在拉马拉的比尔宰特大学学习建筑。一些年来，她是一位活跃的巴勒斯坦年轻诗人和作家。现在，她经常在西岸的文学刊物上发表作品，那些诗作和文章大多是关于殖民环境中的空间想法。2012年她的剧作《阿拉法特头巾/中国制造》由夸坦基金会和皇家佛兰芒剧院制作上演，并随后出版了单行本。
 

Dalia Taha

Dalia Taha was born in Berlin in 1986, but grew up in Ramallah (West Bank). She studied architecture at the Birzeit University in Ramallah. For years she is an active young poet and author in Palestine. 
She now writes regular contributions for literary journals in the West Bank, in which she publishes poetry and articles that deal mostly with the concepts of space in colonial conditions. In 2012 she wrote the play, Kefiyyeh/Made in China which was produced by the A. M. Qattan Foundation and the Royal Flemish Theatre and was later published in book form.  

 
【亚洲生动：一个搜索当代亚洲行动现场的艺术研究项目】
 
亚洲复杂而辽阔，它迷人或艰涩的复杂性，尚未或永远没法充分揭示。它因此无法被观望，而只能卷入。亚洲因此也成为一种变迁历程。那里是征服和繁延，挫败和抵抗，是艰难时世的无穷现场。艺术的力量是微弱的，但它也要在身处的位置上极力扩张自己的象征之力。在亚洲，卷入那些充满寓意的现场，我们或能挖掘出更多——关于变迁可能性的别样提示？
  “亚洲生动”将此研究项目本身视为一种身体力行的卷入，关注当代亚洲地区生活和政治现场与艺术现场的交织，捕捉不甘于既定现实的艺术改造方式。我们将在亚洲广阔的空间中寻找一些点，通过对那些现场的搜索、整理、研究和公布，参与到亚洲存在的行动之中。我们尤其感兴趣的范围包括：亚洲行为艺术群落、亚洲当代剧场、深具社会改造意义的创作和设计、模糊了艺术和社会行动边缘的活动等。
 

Action Asia: an arts research project inquiring into the state of activism in Asia

Asia's vast and unnavigable complexity precludes definitive and complete revelation. But passive observation will not do. We can only forge ahead within the shifting temporalities of conquest and florescence, frustration and resistance, and see what we can discover in these difficult times. Art's power has been weakened in our afflicted present, but it must still strive, in its very physical presence, to expand and increase its symbolic power. Might it still be possible, given this scene of obscurity and tentativeness, to bring to light new vectors of change and possibility?
The “Action Asia” research project conceives itself as a practice-oriented investigation into the intersectionof the art scene with local life and politics, aiming to catch and promote a transformative artistic practice unconstrained by consensus reality. We will search for specific action points within the vastness of Asian space, and seek, through research, analysis, and presentation, to participate in contemporary Asian activism.  Our particular areas of interest include: the Asian performance art community, contemporary Asian theater, designs and projects for social transformation, and activities that blur the boundary between art and social activism.

 
【草台班文化站】
“舞台小世界，世界大舞台”─ 现实生活是怎样每天挥发出戏剧性，令我们无法不置身于社会剧场？
草台班是2005年春在上海发起的民间戏剧团体，倡导新的社会剧场运动，强调文艺与周围生活的关联，多年来不拘一格地利用各种场地，进行非牟利的排演、讨论和举办讲座等活动，不断塑造出流动的社会剧场空间。
“文化站”是由草台班自2007年底开始组织的免费小规模文化聚会，以专家座谈、专题介绍、讨论或小规模表演等方式，表达主张，传播知识和实践经验，至今已举办近60次。
“文化站”活动立足草台班主旨，欢迎关注社会文化，希望开放自己思维和观念，愿意探讨问题和表达意见的人士参与。
 
2013年内，文化站活动历史为：
 
13/9/29晚，[香港] 莫昭如+三木《行为艺术是否表演打碎瓦片》外滩美术馆。
13/8/18晚，[上海] 赵川《世界另一端的艺术和舞台》外滩美术馆；
13/7/6晚，[印度] 夸萨《印度都市剧场》外滩美术馆；
13/6/2下午，[香港]陈炳钊+冯程程《前进进的艺术取向与新文本运动》外滩美术馆；
13/5/19晚，[以色列]Tamar《现实中的艺术，和艺术中的现实》外滩美术馆；
13/4/7晚，[台湾]王墨林《行为艺术之后身体尚存乎》下河迷仓；
13/3/30晚，[美国]Clare Dolan《皮特.舒曼和面包与傀儡剧团的50年》外滩美术馆；
13/1/13晚，[上海]叶景文《走进大山深处的文化》外滩美术馆；