Dates
| 18.04.2025 / 19:00 - 21:00 |
| 19.04.2025 / 18:30 - 22:30 |
Information
CROSSINGS presents performative art through the works of creative voices from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Themes of migration, home, and personal memories intertwine in intense performances that blend contemporary theater, movement, and visual art. The program will also feature two work in progress projects, offering insight into performance art still in the making. CROSSINGS opens a space for sharing stories that resonate with deep feelings of belonging, loss, and the search for a place to call home.
18. 4. 2025 / Community Center Žižkostel
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19:00 / Dafa Puppet Theatre: War Maker
Based on Palestinian artist Karim Shaheen’s true story, War Maker is a voyage into Karim’s dreams and delusions. With the mise-en-scene as a resonance chamber, the audience gets engaged with Karim’s point of view straight from the show’s beginning. War Maker is a multidisciplinary theatre
performance that blends visual art, new media with documentary and object theatre. Having lived within an ongoing exile, Karim’s life is standing at the crossroads where the performance itself mirrors his broken war memories. When his friend lost his arm during the Gulf War, Karim the child, whose life was shaped by three wars even more, became interested in the Silver screen, especially sci-fi movies. In different countries he arrived to, a war took place. Was he a War Maker?
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Cast:
Director: Husam Abed
Dramaturge: Marek Turošik
Art director: Astrid Mendez
Stage designer: Katarina Cakova, Astrid Mendez
Choreography: Ryuji Yamaguchi
Sound and Light design: Matej Vejdelek
Film & editing: Reka Deak, Dmitri Berzo
On stage: Husam Abed, Matej Vejdelek
Thanks to Kristýna Břeská
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With the support of Arab Fund for Art and Culture (AFAC/Beirut), Atelier Libusin, Capital City of Prague, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, State Fund for Culture of the Czech Republic, City District of Prague 7 – Art District, Alfred ve Dvore, Moment Maribor
Photo: Estelle Valente and Martin Špelda
Husam Abed is a Palestinian Jordanian theatre director, puppeteer, musician and producer, who lives in the Czech Republic. He is undertaking a PhD study at Bath Spa University in the UK, researching objects for refugees’ visibility. He holds a Master of Directing for Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU, Czech Republic. He is a co-founder of Dafa Puppet Theatre/Czech Republic. He is performing and leading theatre and puppetry projects for children and youth in many countries. He is directing theatre performances, collaborating with artists from many nations. His performances are invited in regular basis to international festivals in Europe, Arab world, Hong Kong and Macao. He is a co-founder of Hazaart and LIV’in festival in the city of Prague, a member of Amman Theatre Lab., a board member of Sawiyan, a curator of IDEA (International Dance Encounter Amman), a member of Karama Film Festival for Human Rights in Jordan.
Matěj Vejdělek has been an active member of Dafa Puppet Theatre since January 2021. He holds a Master of Drama Acting at Theatre Faculty of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague in 2018. In Dafa he is the lead technician of light, sound and multimedia, a performer and musician. Matej was invited to become a member of Dafa on the basis of their previous cooperation (light and sound engineering performances of Dafa Puppet Theatre) among Divadlo Continuo Festival. He joined Dafa Puppet Theatre during the creative devised process of staging their performance War Maker as a performer and lead technician. He is a dedicated, passionate and talented artist who explores finding new possibilities in staging and performing within given circumstances. As a light and sound engineer, since 2008 he has been involved with Stage Lab. s.r.o. in their (theatre and concert venues, festivals, site-specific projects). He also contributed to the light and sound engineering of international Continuo Theatre between 2018 and 2020, in their productions: WarDrobe, Please leave a message, Mea Culpa etc. He is a second lead A/V technician in the Centre for Architecture and Urban Planning in Prague since 2019 until now.
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TICKETS
19:00-21:00 / Mara Ingea: Crossings / Work in progress
Crossings is a performative installation that combines video projections and movement in the space. It treats the topic of migrations of everyday life in an immersive way and invites the audience to reflect on their position in a world in constant movement, where migrations are inevitable and happen daily, on different scales, and across different species.
Performance is work in progress, a selection of videos that will later be combined with other media in the installation.
Mara Ingea
Born in 1997 in Beirut, Mara Ingea works on the border between installation, object design, and performance. She draws inspiration from reality to reinterpret it, focusing on the more-than-human to question the place of beings with whom we coexist and rethink the spaces in which we live. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in animation from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and a master’s degree in directing of devised and object theater from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU), she is currently based between Lebanon and Prague where she works with international artistic teams as director, performer, and set and costume designer. Her installation Puzzles was awarded Best Student Exhibition at the Prague Quadrennial 2023.
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ADMISSION VOLUNTARY
19. 4. 2025 / Community Center Žižkostel
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18:30 / Islam Elarabi: Just One Tile شبر وقبضة / Work in progress
Just One Tile شبر وقبضة” is a deeply personal project that brings together Mahraganat—an Egyptian street dance—and contemporary dance to express emotions like power, pride, anger, fear, and joy. For a long time, I struggled with how society views Mahraganat, dismissing it as a “street” style with no artistic value. But as I explored different movement practices and deepened my connection to my body, I began to see Mahraganat in a new way. I returned to it with a renewed sense of pride, recognizing it as a raw, powerful expression of Egypt’s youth and a language filled with beauty and complexity. Rooted in the streets of Cairo and my own story, this work not only challenges stereotypes but also celebrates the depth and richness of Mahraganat.
photo: Dorothea Tuch
Islam Elarabi is an Egyptian dancer, choreographer, and instructor based in Cairo. Certified by the International Dance Council (CID UNESCO) since 2019, Islam currently teaches at Cairo Contemporary Dance Center’s (CCDC) one-year dance module. His work is grounded in the raw, authentic power of movement, with a recent focus on Mahraganat—the vibrant street dance of
Cairo—embracing it as a powerful language of expression. Islam has performed at numerous national and international festivals, including the D-CAF Festival, National Egyptian Theatre Festival, Nassim El Raqs Festival, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, and Biennale Tanzausbildung in Berlin. His choreographic work often explores themes of identity and cultural expression, and he has collaborated with sound, movement and lense based artists as Nataliya Nikolska, Eslam Elnebishy, Ahmed Moustafa (Walad),Mohamed Mahmoud (Toto) and Mona Elhusseini.
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ADMISSION VOLUNTARY
18:30- 22:30 / Mara Ingea: Crossings / Work in progress
Crossings is a performative installation that combines video projections and movement in the space. It treats the topic of migrations of everyday life in an immersive way and invites the audience to reflect on their position in a world in constant movement, where migrations are inevitable and happen daily, on different scales, and across different species.
Performance is work in progress, a selection of videos that will later be combined with other media in the installation.
Mara Ingea
Born in 1997 in Beirut, Mara Ingea works on the border between installation, object design, and performance. She draws inspiration from reality to reinterpret it, focusing on the more-than-human to question the place of beings with whom we coexist and rethink the spaces in which we live. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in animation from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and a master’s degree in directing of devised and object theater from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU), she is currently based between Lebanon and Prague where she works with international artistic teams as director, performer, and set and costume designer. Her installation Puzzles was awarded Best Student Exhibition at the Prague Quadrennial 2023.
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ADMISSION VOLUNTARY
20:00 / Jeries Abu Jaber: If only I’d forget you after one last dance
“If only I’d forget you after one last dance” is an attempt to embody a cluster of pain, grief, anger and love. A journey follows a thread of loss and reveals the rubble that stays behind. It is an invitation to a collective experience of overcoming and forgiveness.
Through movement, video and exploration of specific objects, the event locates friction between political pain and personal loss. Revisiting the memories of his life in Palestine and finding a way to share the ineffable, Jeries dives into his body, the epicenter of all the overlapping narratives. He offers himself to be the gravitational center of our temporary constellation and move us to the beat of his heart.
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Team:
Directing and Performing: Jeries AbuJaber
Dramaturgy: Filip Mramor
Directing Assistant: Lottie Wood
Scenography: Jasmine Molinari
Production Assistant: Veera Peltola
Poster designer: Fuad Alyamani
Mentor: Marta Ljubkova
Consultant and Movement Assistant: Petra Hauerova
Administrative Management: Kristýna Jalůvková
Co-organizing: DAMU – Divadelní fakulta AMU
Photographer: Mike Mama
Thanks: Dr. Sodja Lotker, Dr. Branislava Kuburovic, Domen Šuman
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Photo: Mike Mama
Jeries AbuJaber is a Palestinian artist specializing in scenography, performance, and object theater. His artistic practice blends performing arts with documentary, immersive, and installation-based elements, constructing and deconstructing events in real time. His work explores new realities—creating spaces where fragmented narratives, personal histories, and material objects come together to form unexpected meanings.
In his performances, he actively engages with objects, details, and materials on stage, allowing them to shape and reshape the context of the performance through a dramaturgical approach. He sees performance as a living process, where space itself becomes an active participant—guiding both the performer and the audience toward new perspectives and experiences. His work seeks to rearrange reality, memory, and presence, inviting audiences into immersive worlds where they can witness and participate in the transformation unfolding before them.
He is currently completing his master’s degree in Directing of Devised and Object Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). Actively involved in international collaborations, he continues to expand his artistic reach, remaining open to new ideologies and methodologies while working with artists across Europe and worldwide.
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TICKETS