"Arabesque": More than a Festival

This article from the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) explores the potential and power of the arts as a tool for creating common ground. For three weeks in March 2009 in Washington, DC, United States (US), tens of thousands of Americans visited the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to see, hear, and taste the flavours of Arab culture. It also provided attendees with the opportunity to identify cultural stereotypes, challenge them, and then reframe what it means to be Arab. The focus throughout the 21 days was on telling real stories about real people. Palestinian film director George Ibrahim said, "We come with our own stories. We came here to speak to the people."

Specifically, the festival was a celebration of music, dance, theatre, film, literature, art, photos, sculpture, cuisine, design, mosaics, crafts, fashion, and a souk (market) selling arts and crafts made in Arab countries. As reported here, negotiating the politics and logistics of "Arabesque" took more than 5 years. Presented in cooperation with the League of Arab States, the festival brought more than 800 artists from 22 Arab countries to the city.

But, according to the author of this piece, Susan Koscis, "[w]hile the atmosphere was festive, there seemed to be an unspoken understanding that something significant was taking place - and we were participating." Khaled Mattawa, president of the Radius of Arab American Writers, was a consultant to the festival. He hopes that those who attended the performances "walked away with a broader, truer understanding of a society, but also with a renewed reverence for the essential, universal act of creation, for the full humanity of a person - accentuated and multiplied by their arts." Koscis reflects that, ultimately, "the festival was about respect".

It was significant, Koscis elaborates, that the Kennedy Center, "one of the pre-eminent cultural institutions in the United States celebrated the cultures of peoples that we Americans do not know well." The festival, that is, presented an alternate vision to a country (the United States) that has grown accustomed to news from the Middle East centring on conflict and violence. As a result, Koscis explains, "Arabs have become the one-dimensional characters seen on TV news reports and in newspaper photos."

While some of the theatrical works did reflect the conflicts that have plagued the region, the focus was on the human cost. The works look at psychological and philosophical questions to which people of all cultures can relate: What happens to lovers when they've been separated? What happens when somebody dies? In highlighting what we share rather than what divides us, the festival is "an important first step", according to Lebanese visual artist Lara Baladi. She hopes that the festival helped "create a bridge that still needs to be created."