Final Act

This work was created in response to poetic texts written by Habibah Sheikh, a nomadic performance artist originally from Lebanon, and the curator of the Mitli Mitlak exhibition. In the text, a character named Ruba experiences the destruction of war first hand and becomes a refugee in the process. The use of imagery of violence evokes the emotional and physical vulnerability of certain Mediterranean themes...such as being without asylum.

Act 1, Scene 1, Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like Me):

“This is not reality...this is truth. All I know is what ‘they’ say: the ‘ego’ must die.” (To the reflection) “Death of you Queenie!” (Ruba stabs the reflection over and over. As she kills the ego, she at the same time falls to the ground as though she is dying. She finds her way, crawling to the chair to sit. Slowly she is able to stand up and walk. Little by little, she begins to dance.

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Darweish’s work is concerned with the changing perceptions related to the continuous social metamorphosis that Egypt has experienced as an African, Arab, and Middle Eastern country. He explores issues of colonization and liberation and the contemporary constraints of time, diaspora, gender, and identity.