Get carried away by ‘Language: no broblem’ by Marah Haj Hussein on Saturday 18 May. The performance is a personal work about language and will premiere in Monty in September 2024 as part of the Theatre Festival in Antwerp. As part of 20 years of Kunsthal Extra City, Marah will perform a work-in-progress of her piece.

‘Language: no broblem’ is based on research into homemade recordings of her family members discussing their relationship with their mother tongue - Arabic - which also happens to be the official language of the country they reside in - Hebrew. Starting from this power dynamic as a point of departure, Marah shifts it to the Belgian context where English and Dutch begin to play a role.

By interrogating the definition of a mother tongue, Marah looks at the intersectional layering, relativity and ever evolving reality of a language through its humor, power, pressure, and imagination.

Giving voice to spoken Palestinian Arabic as well as including Hebrew, Dutch and English, ‘Language: no broblem’ wishes to investigate the role of language through personal narrations in shaping our understanding of borders and displacement.

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION

↳ Saturday, May 18th from 20:00 to 20:45

↳ In the church of Kunsthal Extra City

↳ Language: Palestinian Arabic, Hebrew, Dutch and English with English and Arabic surtitles.

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Marah Haj Hussein is a dancer, actress, and creator from Kofor Yassif in occupied Palestine. After graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (2021) with a Bachelor's in Dance and from KASK in Ghent (2023) with a Master's in Drama, Marah seeks to challenge the boundaries between text and movement while exploring possible ways to integrate both in the performative space. In her work, Marah focuses on the concept and definition of mother tongue, exploring the power dynamics between languages.

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Credits:

Concept and performance: Marah Haj Hussein

Sound: Anton Lambert
Dramaturgy: Krystel Khoury
Subtitling assistance: Hussein Baoumi
Picture: Oya Latifa