Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 45

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
through direct contact versus secondary representations, and witnessing via digital and
multimedia platforms.
To bear witness requires the individual to engage with the outside world�both inside
and outside performance spaces. The five Fellows in the Witness group acknowledged
this dynamic as they opened deliberations for Day 4. They used their individual presentations
to provide snapshots of how they encounter acts of witnessing in each of their
artistic practices.
Chris Creegan exposed the role of place in witnessing by reading aloud Tony Walsh’s
poem “This Is the Place,” a meditation on Manchester’s history and legacy the artist orated
in public in the wake of the May 2017 terrorist attacks. Acknowledging his ties to his
native Manchester, Chris stated to the group that they may not appreciate the dialect or
regional references as he does because “they’re not of your place; they’re of mine.”
For Jumana Al-Yasiri, place was not local, or even regional, but a transnational connection
to the Arab Spring for those like her, born in Damascus, Syria, who have been
affected by the violence. Jumana spoke about her reaction to last night’s performance
of Ramy: In the frontline, Essam’s multimedia retelling of his personal experience as symbol
of Egyptian resistance during the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. She stated that while
she is not Egyptian, the tribulations Ramy: In the frontline bears witness to something
that “happened to all of us.”
With the Witness theme occurring near the midpoint of the week-long Global Cultural
Fellows programme, the speakers were able draw on previous discussions to make
connections between themes. Devika Ranjan related her interpretation of Lal Batti Express.
She found significance in how the performers used their bodies to express their
testimony of prostitution in India. Devika facilitated partner-based movement exercises
between the Fellows in order for them to understand first-hand how movement and stillness
can communicate acts of bearing witness.
Following yesterday’s small-group discussions, the Fellows proceeded to break out into
their “World Café,” which emulates the free movement between conversations in coffee
shops and salons. Devika’s group focused on the ethics of witnessing; Marika Constantino
initiated a dialogue on creating platforms for witnessing; Caitlin Nasema Cassidy
asked her group to articulate the responsibilities of bearing witness; Jumana led a discussion
on the artist and witness; Chris used “World Café” to elaborate on place as a central
factor to bearing witness.
The “World Café” and the subsequent large-group dialogue highlighted how bearing
witness intervenes in political and social tensions, but also demonstrated that bearing
witness is a deliberate action. Reem Alsayyah explained her decision to perform in The
Queens of Syria, based on hers and peers’ experiences with the violence in Syria. She said,
“I felt it was my responsibility to be a witness and not a victim.”
44