Qalandyia International
In occasion of the Qalandiya International “This Sea is Mine” (October 5-31, 2016), Campus in Camps presented the art work “The Book of Exile” originally produced in occasion of Marrakesh Biennale and reenacted at Housh Qandah in the old city of Ramallah, brought Qalandia visitors in “detour” in Dheisheh Refugee Camp and led the radio show “We will Return after the intermission”.
The Book of Exile
The Book of Exile was produced for the first time in occasion of 6th edition of the Marrakech Biennale (2016) by the calligrapher Abdelghani Ouida that together with his colleagues and his students brought back an inveterate heritage of knowledge production and translation of texts in the courtyard of the Koutoubia Mosque in the city of Marrakesh in Morocco. In occasion of Qalandia International the Book of Exile was activated by Campus in Camps participants and by the Palestinian calligrapher Saher Kabi. The Book of Exile is an assemblage of stories of refugee life in Palestinian Camps since the Nakba in 1948. The book narrates the story of the camp as a distinctive site of knowledge production. These stories are an expression of a vital culture that emerged in exile in spite of suffering and deprivation.
“De-tour in Dheisheh”
De-Tour led Qalandia visitors in a exploration of Dheisheh Camp by narrating the story of the camp using collective knowledge contained in popular stories and sites, enabling the representation of contemporary life in the Refugee Camp. The concrete tent, Shelters rooms, Camps’ walls and graffiti, UNRWA distribution center and the pedestrian bridge were the main sites presented to the guests to pass their vision of how can one look and learn from and about the camp.
The De-tour aims to offer people ways to re-experience the camp, focusing on the strengthened aspects of these spaces such as collective sites of cultura resistance that were established by the community. This in turn provides the opportunity to portray the camp in a different way, absent from the idea of passivity and poverty but rather giving the camp its prerogative for its historic achievements.
The event was in collaboration with Dar Al-Kalima college for Arts & Culture and as part of Qalandyia international.
“We will Return after the intermission”
“We will Return after the intermission” is a radio show performed by Radio Donna Taraddod hosting Campus in Camps to explore different prospective on the notion of Return and asking difficult questions such as what would happen to the camp after the Right of Return take place? Return for whom and to what? a Return to the Common? and how to understand a Return as a daily practice.
The show was organized by Ramallah municipality and took place at the Ottoman court in Ramallah. It can be listen (in arabic) here: https://soundcloud.com/taraddod/dddbf39jyf1r
