Border Bodies خطوط أجسام
Oct’24 – Present
Performance, Computational PoetryCounterpulse, San Francisco, CA
Border Bodies خطوط أجسام is a work in progress currently being developed as part of Jess and Halim’s Counterpulse Residency. Border Bodies خطوط أجسام is a zajal-infused theatrical journey by Halim Madi and Jessica Semaan, unfolding in three chapters that traverse the landscapes of Lebanese village life, migration, and cultural hybridization.
The piece is an immersive play where narratives of identity, tradition, and modernity intertwine while a red ribbon traverses the stage to represent the fluidity of borders. It challenges and redefines concepts of purity and arrival, wondering about cultural fusion and the evolution of identity as a form of weaving rather than bridging, engaging audiences in an interactive, somatic re-narrativization of migration and Lebanese culture specifically and Arab culture more generally.