‘Culture and resistance’

The documentary makers Majd Khalifeh and Roel Nollet set off in search of the circus’s centre of gravity. ‘What Happened in the Tent’ is an exchange project between two circus schools — one from the West Bank in Palestine, the other from Molenbeek in Belgium.

Each person had their own story and their own mental constructs, based on their living environment. But irrespective of their individual experiences, as soon as they set foot in the circus, their world was transformed …

The evening will continue with a discussion and debate involving the film directors and a presentation of the work ‘Culture and Resistance; Establishing Hope – 10 years of cultural cooperation and solidarity with the Palestinian Circus School’, in the presence of:

• Leïla Shahid, former Palestinian ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg and patron of the Asseoir l’Espoir (Establishing Hope) project;
• Serge Hustache, Chairman of the Provincial Board of Hainaut Province; 
• Patrice Neirinck, architect and professor at the École nationale supérieure des arts visuels of La Cambre.

The founders and directors of the Palestinian Circus School and the Circus Zonder Handen will also attend.

The event is organised by Présence et Action Culturelles in collaboration with the Mahmoud Darwich Chair. It is supported by the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the Belgian National Lottery, the Brussels-Capital Region and the French Community Commission.