A festival in tribute to Mahmoud Darwish, major voice of Palestinian poetry, who passed away ten years ago, August 9, 2008. During the festival meetings, concerts and performances were programmed from 20 to 23 September 2018.
Debate in the context of the Thursdays of the IMA
Through his immense body of work, his life seen as a literary work, Mahmoud Darwich (13 March 1941-9 August 2008) embodies the history of modern Palestine. In his poetic writing, he evolved from the purist of verse to the most sophisticated song. He evoked loss and exile in breath that was more tragic than Homeric. He deconstructed myths and showed that, in the face of History and the naked truth of life, ‘the time of legends has passed’. In his last collections of poems, he embraced the movement of planetary wandering, the saga of those who inhabit the margins and shadows, and showed an authentic and generous impulse that always took him towards the stranger, the vagabond, the nomad and the traveller.
Debate led by Farouk Mardam Bey with Evanghelia Stead, Jean-Baptiste Para, Brigitte Herremans, Mourad Yelles and Kadhim Jihad Hassan. Meeting accompanied by musical performances orchestrated by the actor Erick Auguste, who has dedicated himself to contemporary Arab poetry, in particular that of Mahmoud Darwish. Erik Auguste was joined by musicians including the blues guitarists Yassine Karoui and Eric Sauviat and the bassist Youcef Boukella. Mahmoud Darwish’s texts were read against a backdrop of rock, blues and jazz; Those who pass between fleeting words, On this earth, When the martyrs sleep and We love life too.
Through his immense body of work, his life seen as a literary work, Mahmoud Darwich (13 March 1941-9 August 2008) embodies the history of modern Palestine. In his poetic writing, he evolved from the purist of verse to the most sophisticated song. He evoked loss and exile in breath that was more tragic than Homeric. He deconstructed myths and showed that, in the face of History and the naked truth of life, ‘the time of legends has passed’. In his last collections of poems, he embraced the movement of planetary wandering, the saga of those who inhabit the margins and shadows, and showed an authentic and generous impulse that always took him towards the stranger, the vagabond, the nomad and the traveller.
Debate led by Farouk Mardam Bey with Evanghelia Stead, Jean-Baptiste Para, Brigitte Herremans, Mourad Yelles and Kadhim Jihad Hassan. Meeting accompanied by musical performances orchestrated by the actor Erick Auguste, who has dedicated himself to contemporary Arab poetry, in particular that of Mahmoud Darwich. He will be joined by musicians including the blues guitarists Yassine Karoui and Eric Sauviat and the bassist Youcef Boukella. Mahmoud Darwich’s texts read against a backdrop of rock, blues and jazz include: Those who pass between fleeting words, On this earth, When the martyrs sleep and We love life too.