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Design Engy Aly

Halaqat

Exploring cultural links between Europe and the Arab Region

Europe and the Arab world are two rapidly changing regions, each with specific and varied local social, economic and political realities, but above all with many connections, historical and present. Building on these connections, the Goethe-Institut and Bozar present the project Halaqat. Halaqat – which in Arabic means multiple links and circles – aims to strengthen these entanglements and build bridges between both regions.  

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Archive - Past activities

Halaqat Opening Festival - Cinema Talk Foto Caroline Lessire © Bozar

Our past Halaqat activities

Film screenings, concerts, performances, art installations, debates... More than 35 public events have already taken place within the framework of Halaqat!

Halaqat Music © Design Engy Aly

HALAQAT: OPEN CALL FOR THE SECOND MUSIC RESIDENCY

The Goethe-Institut and Bozar together with Werkplaats Walter in Belgium and the Amman Jazz Festival in Jordan start a music residency programme in 2021/2022 and are looking for six motivated emerging professional musicians from both the Arab World and Europe to meet, exchange ideas and perform in Brussels (Belgium) from 20.05. to 25.05.2022.  
 

Halaqat Design Engy Aly

Open Call Performing Arts Residency 2022

The Goethe-Institut and Bozar together with the curator and dramaturg Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi, La Bellone and Théâtre Marni start a residency programme in performing arts in 2022 and are looking for up to ten motivated emerging performing arts makers from the Arab world or the Arab diaspora in Europe to meet and create in Belgium for six weeks in total in 2022.

Halaqat Media Arts Design Engy Aly

Open Call
Halaqat: Visual Arts Residency

The Goethe-Institut and Bozar, together with iMAL in Belgium and Cairotronica in Egypt, organise a media arts residency programme in spring 2022. We are looking for four artists from the Arab world and from Europe to engage in a 2-week residency in Brussels (Belgium).

Halaqat Film © Engy Aly

Open Call Halaqat: Audiovisual residency 2022

The Goethe-Institut and Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts Brussels together with Atelier Graphoui, Cinemaximiliaan and Sound Image Culture - SIC start an audiovisual residency programme in 2022 and are looking for four motivated emerging professional filmmakers from the Arab diaspora based in Belgium to meet, exchange ideas and produce individually a short documentary film in Belgium during 2022. 

Bot Bop Bozar

HALAQAT: OPEN CALL FOR THE FIRST MUSIC RESIDENCY

Focus: jazz and electronic music, 29.11 - 05.12.2021 in Brussels

The music residency programme is part of the European project HALAQAT organised by the Goethe-Institut together with Bozar - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels and co-funded by the European Union. Serving as a bridge between both regions, HALAQAT offers a contemporary journey into artistic imaginaries shared by the Arab world and Europe and focuses on the diversity and richness of cultural collaborations today to support and strengthen them in the future. 


About the project

Exploring cultural links between Europe and the Arab Region

Europe and the Arab world are two rapidly changing regions, each with specific and varied local social, economic and political realities, but above all with many connections, historical and present. Building on these connections, the Goethe-Institut and Bozar present the project Halaqat. Halaqat – which in Arabic means multiple links and circles – aims to strengthen these entanglements and build bridges between both regions. 

Diverse voices of emerging and renowned artists, cultural actors and experts are brought together to approach a number of themes from their own perspective. Going beyond the idea of a simple invitation, Halaqat aims to stimulate the artists from both regions to create art. With 'Politics of Spaces and Bodies' as their leitmotiv, they tell stories of power, limitation and impact over spaces and bodies, a theme that remains highly topical. What is the place of public and private space in both regions and in the different countries? And how do people deal with this? How will we soon experience physical and digital space? The notion of bodies, in turn, relates to issues of gender, power, bodily contact, mobility and the role of body language. Can we continue to cooperate and listen to each other in times of pandemic - when mobility is not only limited by visas, but also by all kinds of sanitary measures? These are just some of the topics that Halaqat addresses, without claiming to have a definitive answer or solution. Each question might give way to a new issue or chapter, which Europe and the Arab world will continue to write together, towards a future influenced by artists from both regions.  

Over the last two years, more than 50,000 visitors have attended public discussions, film screenings, concerts, performances, and visual art installations at Bozar and various locations in Brussels. In 2023, we are expanding our reach with own funds by organising activities in Brussels, Madrid, Rabat, Cairo and Amman. At Bozar, we showcase an ambitious film panorama featuring Arab directors, alongside other events. 

Local Halaqat partners in Brussels and in the Arab region:
•        Film: Atelier Graphoui, Cinemaximiliaan, NAAS-Network of Arab Alternative Screens
•        Media arts: IMAL and Cairotronica
•        Music: Werkplaats Walter and Amman Jazz Festival
•        Performance: La Bellone, Théâtre Marni and Studio 8
         Curator : Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi 

Youtube Halaqat - videos Flickr Halaqat
Halaqat started in 2021 as a grant co-financed by the European Union (under the designation: EU-LAS CULTURE), the Goethe-Institut and Bozar - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels. The project was implemented by the Goethe-Institut in collaboration with Bozar from 01.02.2021 until 31.01.2023. Halaqat continues in 2023 with its own funds and with activities in Europe and in the Arab worlds. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the organisers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. 

Contact

Maud Qamar
Project coordinator HalaqatMaud.Qamar@goethe.de

Halaqat Team © Bozar / Foto Caroline Lessire

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