jordan pulse -

Ahmed Al-Shahawi – Egypt

Festival not measured by number of editions but by impact it leaves on spirit. After 40 years, Jerash Festival no longer passing date on Arab cultural calendar but open question about meaning of culture and power of word to endure in age that consumes everything fast.

Since early 1980s, when festival launched in heart of ancient city, aim not to decorate reality with art but to bring meaning into public space and make culture daily act rather than closed elite activity. Jerash listens to Arab voice as it redefines itself through poetry, music and thought.

Poetry in Jerash does not fall into void. Verse passes through stone, borrows silence of columns and sits on theatre that once heard emperors before becoming poet’s whisper. Place expands text, slows it, deepens it.

Reading poem in Jerash tests fragility and strength of time together. History beside present opens question: what remains and what fades. For this reason, festival closer to cultural ritual than passing celebration.

Poetry long-term resident, not guest. Major Arab poets from different generations and visions crossed its evenings, united by belief that poem still has something to say.

Experience refused aesthetic guardianship. Free verse beside prose poem, elevated language met daily speech, difference condition for dialogue not exclusion. Festival became mirror of Arab poetry transformations, anxieties and attempts at reinvention.

Critical discussions and intellectual seminars extended same questions: function of poetry, its limits, relation to fast-changing world. Literature beyond poetry also present, with novel, short story, criticism and thought sharing space as tools of understanding not ornament.

Participation since 1994 under management of Akram Masarweh, Jreiss Samawi and Ayman Samawi brought writers from Mashreq and Maghreb together under dialogue not slogans. Many dialects, references varied, but word built fragile yet necessary bridge.

While many Arab festivals vanished or turned formal, Jerash persisted because it never treated culture as luxury. From start, belief that culture act of awareness and art way to resist reality allowed festival to endure pauses and return renewed without losing spirit.

After 40 years, Jerash becomes memory as much as event. Memory of voices, texts and unanswered questions. Impact measured not in numbers but in awareness it shaped and faith that word still deserves public space.

Jerash at core attempt at survival: survival of word from isolation, of poetry from marginalisation, of culture from becoming décor. Forty years on, place still proves art does not age when protected, and poem still finds listeners.

Ayman Samawi: when Jerash regains cultural voice and moves from memory to future

Jerash Festival never seasonal spectacle but mirror of Jordanian cultural identity and Arab platform open to world. Yet festivals weaken without renewal. Ayman Samawi experience reads as cultural rescue rather than routine administration.

On taking responsibility, challenge not filling seats but redefining festival purpose and audience. Project built on belief that culture necessity not luxury, and art loses legitimacy if detached from environment and era.

Samawi expanded concept of culture to include theatre, poetry, visual arts and intellectual dialogue alongside music, rejecting reduction of Jerash to single concert or star. Focus on Jordanian creator as foundation, opening stages to local artists and emerging voices, creating healthy scene without exclusion.

He broke spatial centralisation, extending events to several governorates, turning festival into daily cultural act touching people directly. International openness treated as necessity, hosting Arab and global participation while preserving local voice.

Professional organisation, balanced media discourse and respect for audience restored festival discipline and clarity. Poetry evenings and intellectual seminars regained central place, restoring spirit of question over ready answers.

Samawi not backstage administrator but cultural thinker who sees management as knowledge act. Success measured by impact on youth awareness, Jordan cultural image and art as shared language amid noise and division.

Under his management, Jerash regained cultural stature, Arab presence and living relationship with audience. Festival again living project that renews itself. Samawi part of collective effort, but spark that relit stages, turning stone into new voices and history into partner of future.