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Freedom Theatre
The Freedom Theatre is one of the most remarkable institutions in occupied Palestine, and indeed the world. Nestled in Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, the theatre has faced attacks, threats, imprisonment of many functionaries, and the assassination of its co-founder. And yet the theatre has not only endured, it has grown, from a provisional hall with rented plastic chairs to one of Palestine's most prominent cultural centres. Today, it educates actors, technicians, cultural workers, photographers, filmmakers and teachers, tours in the West Bank and internationally with its characteristically strong and moving art, and has created a network of partners across the globe. This book depicts the theatre's history, work, and vision through some of its key people. It gives room to thorough analyses of the context in which it operates and of the concept of Cultural Resistance, which is central to its work. Palestinian and international artists, academics and activists associated with the theatre, contribute personal and professional perspectives on the phenomenon that is The Freedom Theatre. This is as much a documentation of the work of The Freedom Theatre in its first ten years as it is a testament to its growing significance as a source of inspiration in Palestine and around the world.
418 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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May 17, 2021
"There is no freedom without knowledge. There is no peace without freedom. Peace and freedom are bound together. Bound together!"
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"Coexistence and reconciliation can only happen between equals, not between occupier and occupied, or between oppressor and oppressed"
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"When we believe in the role of art and culture as a way to fight and resist, we will be able to support all different forms of resistance. Art explains what we are fighting for. Art will present us and bring us back as human beings, not terrorists. This will create a new Intifada: a cultural intifada" -Juliano Mer Khamis, the co-founder of The Freedom Theatre.
The Freedom Theatre, born in the refugee camp of Jenin in occupied Palestine, has taken on the role of being the critical compass of resistance, of telling the stories of the Palestinian people, told by the Palestinian people. Using as its theoretical basis Paulo Freire's understanding of pedagogy, which had inspired Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, the Freedom Theatre (TFT) plays a vital role in the resistance against Israeli occupation. By first creating a safe space for all (their collective isn't limited to Arabs or Palestinians, but involves everyone who recognizes the apartheid state of Israel occupied Palestine), TFT has identified the multi-layered oppression and injustice that the Palestinian people have to endure on a daily basis. Upon identifying this, they use their theatrical productions (which are created, by the way, in the most inclusive way possible, through the use of a devising technique called Playback Theatre) to build and sustain a "cultural intifida" - this works by articulating, through art, the exact and elusive ways in which the mind can also be colonized, moving ahead to the many other ways in which inequality persists. However, they do not mean to replace armed resistance, but merely to add to its efforts. It's simple, really: "art is freedom without force."
✊
"Coexistence and reconciliation can only happen between equals, not between occupier and occupied, or between oppressor and oppressed"
✊
"When we believe in the role of art and culture as a way to fight and resist, we will be able to support all different forms of resistance. Art explains what we are fighting for. Art will present us and bring us back as human beings, not terrorists. This will create a new Intifada: a cultural intifada" -Juliano Mer Khamis, the co-founder of The Freedom Theatre.
The Freedom Theatre, born in the refugee camp of Jenin in occupied Palestine, has taken on the role of being the critical compass of resistance, of telling the stories of the Palestinian people, told by the Palestinian people. Using as its theoretical basis Paulo Freire's understanding of pedagogy, which had inspired Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, the Freedom Theatre (TFT) plays a vital role in the resistance against Israeli occupation. By first creating a safe space for all (their collective isn't limited to Arabs or Palestinians, but involves everyone who recognizes the apartheid state of Israel occupied Palestine), TFT has identified the multi-layered oppression and injustice that the Palestinian people have to endure on a daily basis. Upon identifying this, they use their theatrical productions (which are created, by the way, in the most inclusive way possible, through the use of a devising technique called Playback Theatre) to build and sustain a "cultural intifida" - this works by articulating, through art, the exact and elusive ways in which the mind can also be colonized, moving ahead to the many other ways in which inequality persists. However, they do not mean to replace armed resistance, but merely to add to its efforts. It's simple, really: "art is freedom without force."
Displaying 1 of 1 review