{19/6/2020 - 3/7/2020}
YEAR 2 | Movement
Conducted by Raed Ibrahim, Diala Khaswaneh & Ola Khaldi {The Rocca Family}, and Reef Fakhouri & Dina Bataineh {Taghmees}.
Shortly after the residency, Aman had an exhibition on 4/7/2020 to exhibit the participants’ works.
About The Residency.
This year’s residency focused on movement as the main theme, we worked with Taghmees, Raed Ibrahim and the Rocca Family to facilitate the workshops. The workshops were planned in a way for them to be connected and cohesive in direction yet different in approach based on each of the facilitators.
ABSTRACT.
Take a moment right now to allow yourself to fully arrive. Allow the dust to settle in your mind. Bring your attention to your body, your breath, this present moment. You have arrived. Welcome.
Your excitement, your fears, and your anxiety are welcome. Your clear inquiries, silent searches, and your still unknowns are also welcome. Your wide eyes and open hearts right along with your side eyes and cynicism and skepticism are welcome. You are welcome here.
Your culture is welcome. Your ethnic origin is welcome. Your skin hue, your language, accent, food preferences, and all of the complexities that make up your cultural identity are welcome here. The histories, herstories, and experiences of your ancestors are honored and welcomed.
You are welcome with all of the connections you bring in with you, to the children in your lives, your partners, siblings, parents, the animals in your lives, and other loved ones in your communities. You are welcome here.
Your quirks and ambiguities are welcome. Your humor and your silent contemplation are welcome. The parts of yourself that you are still figuring out are welcome.
You are welcome in your roles as artists, activists, healers, feelers, intuitives, parents, caretakers, students, witches, change agents, magicians, and warriors.
Your spiritual practice, your religious affiliation, your spiritual walk, however you hold that aspect of your life, is welcomed. Your love is welcome here. How you love, who you love, and your understanding of what love is, are all welcome. You are welcome in all of the ways your sexuality has and is unfolding, in all of the ways your gender has and is unfolding. in your ignorance. in your privilege. in your grief. in your guilt and shame. You are welcome here. You are welcome at whatever level of mental and physical wellness you are currently functioning. Your introversion and your extroversion, all of the experiences that led you to this moment are welcome.
Thank you for surviving. Your wounds and scars, your emotions, ALL of them, are welcome as well. Thank you for bringing your ancestors with you; they are also welcome.
Your sacred connections to the lands on which you were conceived, the lands that hosted your births, and the lands of your ancestors are welcome. You are welcome to this land here, where we have prepped the soil for you to sow the seeds of your dreams.
Let your roots sink into this nutrient dense soil, intertwining with the roots of everyone else here, and connecting to the root systems of all of the other living things around here through the underground mycelial network. Settle in.
WELCOME.
The Sessions.
Session 1 | Cooking With Taghmees
We started with a big welcome and a conversation to set our mood together, while discussing how we will be creating a safe space for each other. We also asked: what is our understanding of life and how do we learn from each other and connect to each other?
We moved our fingers together, rolled and stuffed vine leaves. Our personalities merged with our mother’s recipes, we moved together in the space and a harmony was created. Conversations continued throughout the day, time became measured with how many leaves we rolled and a sense of trust was built.
Session 2 | Dancing With Alya Shehata
In another safe space we created, in a dance studio we moved together with Alya Shehata to form our own meanings of movement. We spoke about our movement in our homes, our bodies, in our streets, people’s movement and their interactions with our existence, our revolution, our work, and the change we change and we prompt. We walked silently in the street and we silenced others from our strength as a group. We talked about being in this life, how we got here, who decided for us to be here and the importance of our being here and the choice of our families or chosen families.
Session 3 | Harvesting With Taghmees
We harvested wheat and this wheat has a story. The seeds in ‘Suhool Huran” started with a handful three years ago, it was planted and now it has bred and bred again.
What is moving with us and within us? What are we planting in each other? And what does this movement mean to each of us.
After harvesting we sat and talked about hope and expectations. A special thank you to the ‘Abdeh’ family for this experience and for taking care of those seeds.
Session 4 | With Raed Ibrahim
Exploring ways of expression and possible methods in the light of some examples from the world of modern and contemporary art. To provide a beginning and a prelude to entering into one of the aspects of artistic and intellectual expressions, and try to explore and read them in an endeavor to seek the help to find aspects of who we are through our creative production and its steps through individual sessions.
We introduced each other to what we do. And why we do it? How do we evoke a state of production? Our different mediums and multiplicity. We invited each other to take risks to try new ones. We talked about our history and pasts, how do we bring the personal and turn it to public? Where are the boundaries and how do we explore them and find them! The adventure, start, process, and finish.
Session 5 | Listening To The Wild With Rocca Family
The Rocca family is made up of human, other, terrestrial, real, and other beings, it is an expanding and branched family. In this workshop, Ola Al-Khaldi and Diala Khasawneh will use a number of tamed and terrifying tools to fondle the wilderness in the bellies of the participants, and the wild around them. With music, movements, and listening to self and others, we will dive inwards and outwards.
We dipped in water and breathed loudly and lightly, we moved our little toe and we gave it love, named it and thanked it. We took a tour in Rocca Family’s Farm, learned about its history, its directions, Zizi invited us to be humble, to connect, to listen and not be afraid of being wrong or right or spontaneous, while always asking ourselves “Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Whoooo?” She invited us to be present and to feel with all our senses and to pay attention to what is happening within us and around us.
Session 6 | Philosophies With Zizi
We met Ola and she took us to meet Zizi under the tree, we breathed with her and she fed us a mixture of taste, courage and faith, she asked us what is your philosophy of the day?
We shared our philosophies and slept under the tree for a bit.
We carried on our day connecting and producing together, we swam, talked, sat under the sun, at night we lit a bonfire and we cooked ’qalayet bandoora’ together.
The Final Exhibition
The participating artists had the chance to showcase their work which was the collective outcome of the conversations and trainings they had during the 2 week period.
We had a great time and we will miss everyone who was part of it!
Good luck on your journeys!
