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On October 30th, 2021 we begin the Festival of Forbidden Life, an ongoing celebration of life, dreams, and Al-Risan’s beauty. The festival will include works by artists who too often work under the reality that “in Palestine you make art to be demolished.” Through their art and a film that documents the project, the artists seek to answer the question: “Why do we create art that we know will be stolen, vandalized, demolished, or burned to the ground?”
About Al-Risan
Located in the heart of Palestine, Al Risan is an ancient mountain approximately 10 km northwest of Ramallah and 5 km east of Israel’s separation barrier. It is located in “Area C,” the land making up 60% of the West Bank that has been under exclusive Israeli military control since 1995. Buried within it are traces of previous cultures, and ancient Roman artifacts have been found there. For centuries, Al-Risan’s land has been privately owned by Palestinians.
Palestinian and international artists have been inspired by Al-Risan’s creative power, and in 2016 a Palestinian storyteller and a Canadian actress, photographer, and writer developed an artspace on the mountain. Together, they established trails with the intention of marking out an official hike that would integrate collaborative art pieces, audio clips, a play, and poetry.
In August 2018, a settler family established the illegal (illegal under both international and Israeli law) outpost of Sde Ephraim atop Al-Risan. Shortly thereafter, Israeli soldiers, there to protect a group of settlers establishing the illegal (illegal under both international and Israeli law) settler outpost of Sde Ephraim prevented a young woman storyteller from reaching the site that was on land owned by her family and Palestinian villagers. When she asked why they were blocking her access, they told her this was now a closed military zone. When she asked, “Since when?” they replied, “Since today!”
Since then, under the protection of Israel’s Army, the outpost has expanded with additional squatters claiming control over more and more mountain land. An aggressive malignancy, Sde Ephraim now calls itself a farm. Armed with automatic weapons and backed by the Israeli army, the invaders have been aggressively blocking access to the Al-Risan by the Palestinians who hold title to it and have been stealing and destroying their private property and agricultural assets.
By 2020, the illegal settler outpost had grown to include several houses, putting the Al-Risan artistic project at heightened risk. This past year, the settlers expanded their outpost, encroaching on the 2016 artspace and atop remains of a Roman village. When the storyteller went to the settlers with the intention of reaching an agreement to continue her work undisturbed, they beat her.
In September 2021, all the artspace property was stolen—including a children’s library, performing arts materials, and planted trees, but the growing group of artists continued their work undeterred. Freedom of artistic expression on this privately-owned site is protected by international law,* but located just a stone’s throw from the settlement, it faces continuing danger.
In two separate incidents this year, a Sde Ephraim settler murdered an unarmed Palestinian villager and wounded another.
About Jabal Al-Risan, The Festival of Forbidden Life
Creating art in Area C is about creating life in the face of policies of dispossession, expulsion, and forced displacement.
In September 2021, a group of Palestinian and international artists, dancers, storytellers, writers, and poets began meeting regularly to discuss Al-Risan’s artistic significance. The conversations evolved into an ambitious plan to establish an outdoor artspace on the edge of the mountain for a visual and performing arts festival for presentation to both Palestinians and international audiences.
The festival begins on 30 October 2021 with an installation that will be livestreamed via Zoom (registration required) and Facebook with participation and programming from Canada, USA, Lebanon, and Italy. This first in a series of installations will include seven visual art pieces, four performances, a film, talks, and more. Subsequent installations will be created and exhibited through August 2022.
As a movement using art as its tool, Jabal Al-Risan: The Fesival of Forbidden Life affirms the fact of Palestinian presence in Area C. Though others may attempt to claim jurisdiction over this mountain, we artists do not. We merely believe that art is always an expression of truth, even when it faces erasure.
Along with the sun, moon and stars, Al-Risan will continue to write its own history while the Festival’s creators only wish to illuminate it.
For more information and to get in touch, please contact jabalalrisan@gmail.com
* “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (20) (UDHR) first recognized the need to internationalize the relationship between law and artistic freedom. In its Article 19, the Declaration protects freedom of expression in general, then paragraphs 1 and 2 of its Article 27 preserve, respectively, the right of everyone to participate in the cultural life of the community, and the right of every author to secure protection of her moral and material interests resulting from literary or artistic production. ” Source: Freedom of Artistic Expression in International Law.