“Let the upcoming period be a period of #cultural_disobedience until we bring back our cultural life that has been confiscated.”
After nearly three years of writing the above lines, Omar Rajeh Maqamat founder and Mia Habis BIPOD - Beirut International Platform of Dance artistic director, bring back this term of #cultural_disobedience, which seems that it had never left them.
“Our focus on the theme of #cultural_disobedience is a focus on the artists and their needs. We consider disobedience, as an act of care, of reform, of change to the better. We disobey when we realize that the system does not respond to our ambitions and doesn’t not satisfy our aspirations”.
The 18th edition of BIPOD started in Lyon & continues in Beirut, from 25 till 29 May in Théâtre Béryte and Sursock Museum. The edition proposes a program of performances, videos, discussions, debates, experiences and conversations under the theme of #cultural_disobedience: Disobey why, disobey to do what, and how to disobey?
The cultural project brought together artists, festivals and cultural venues in Europe and around the Mediterranean to question the possibilities of the body, its weaknesses, its strength of resilience or resistance and more simply its existence in times of crisis.
In cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung and Relais Culture Europe.
In solidarity with the dance scene in Lebanon - free entrance to all performances and events.
And with the support of Institut français, Istituto Italiano di Cultura-Beirut, the Spanish Embassy in Beirut, Prohelvetia, and the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon and Syria, AFAC, and Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy.