As tragic events escalate in Gaza, a heated debate has emerged over whether the Jerash Festival should be held this year. Opinions are divided between those who see holding the festival as ignoring the suffering of Gaza’s people and those who believe that art supports their resilience. From this perspective, I would argue that hosting the Jerash Festival and recognizing its symbolism is not a means to ignore reality but a bridge expressing resilience and reflecting the strength of culture and art in facing crises.
The history of the Jerash Festival, which began in 1981, is full of cultural and artistic events that brought together colors and sounds from all over the world. This festival is not just an annual event but a symbol of peace and cultural communication. Over the years, the festival has hosted prominent figures in the world of art, literature, and poetry such as Fairouz, Samih al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Habib al-Zayyudi, Karim al-Iraqi, Sabah Fakhri, Mohammed Abdo, Nagat al-Saghira, Omar al-Abdallat, and others. The ancient city of Jerash has been and still is a stage that combines ancient history with a renewed present.
In times of crises and wars, art has never ceased to express human suffering and hope. Just as Dmitri Shostakovich composed his seventh symphony 'Leningrad' during the German siege, that piece was not just a melody but a call for resilience and determination. Recently, we saw how Jawaher al-Aqra'a found music to be a 'breath of life' in her daily life in the besieged Gaza Strip. Today, in the Deir al-Balah camp where she took refuge, she confirms that she sings to 'overcome the violence of war and give herself resilience.' We have also seen how Ukrainian musicians held a concert in the Kharkov metro station, defying the harshness of war to perform before a small audience, raising the flag of hope in a time of conflict.
Arts, in all their forms, are a means of expression and communication that transcend language and geography. They document disasters and events, embodied by artists and musicians, to be witnesses to human experiences. From wars to pandemics, natural disasters to political conflicts, arts always reflect reality and convey revolutionary and critical messages. Therefore, let us seize every opportunity to support resilience and transform the Jerash Festival, in some aspects, into a means of support and convey the image to the world.
Wars are the most destructive activities in human history, and culture in its literary, intellectual, and artistic details has a long-standing relationship with wars. They have contributed to condemning conflicts, occupations, and aggressions through different representations of 'truth.' Through poetry, singing, colors, and paintings, artists have depicted ideologies, values, and symbols of wars, providing visual testimonies to catastrophic events.
Art is not merely a human response to wars but an exploration of the meaning of violence itself. Even soldiers who participated in wars sculpted artworks from the remnants of battles, turning cruelty and violence into testimonies of events, more effective than news reports in attracting international attention to the plight and consequences of war.
Holding the Jerash Festival this year, amid the war in Gaza, is not ignoring the suffering of its people but a call to the world to rally around their cause and support them through arts that express the spirit of resistance and resilience. Let us celebrate art as a means of conveying messages of peace and solidarity and continue this ancient tradition that unites us in love and hope, facing all difficulties.
M. Khalid Baz al-Haddadin
As tragic events escalate in Gaza, a heated debate has emerged over whether the Jerash Festival should be held this year. Opinions are divided between those who see holding the festival as ignoring the suffering of Gaza’s people and those who believe that art supports their resilience. From this perspective, I would argue that hosting the Jerash Festival and recognizing its symbolism is not a means to ignore reality but a bridge expressing resilience and reflecting the strength of culture and art in facing crises.
The history of the Jerash Festival, which began in 1981, is full of cultural and artistic events that brought together colors and sounds from all over the world. This festival is not just an annual event but a symbol of peace and cultural communication. Over the years, the festival has hosted prominent figures in the world of art, literature, and poetry such as Fairouz, Samih al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Habib al-Zayyudi, Karim al-Iraqi, Sabah Fakhri, Mohammed Abdo, Nagat al-Saghira, Omar al-Abdallat, and others. The ancient city of Jerash has been and still is a stage that combines ancient history with a renewed present.
In times of crises and wars, art has never ceased to express human suffering and hope. Just as Dmitri Shostakovich composed his seventh symphony 'Leningrad' during the German siege, that piece was not just a melody but a call for resilience and determination. Recently, we saw how Jawaher al-Aqra'a found music to be a 'breath of life' in her daily life in the besieged Gaza Strip. Today, in the Deir al-Balah camp where she took refuge, she confirms that she sings to 'overcome the violence of war and give herself resilience.' We have also seen how Ukrainian musicians held a concert in the Kharkov metro station, defying the harshness of war to perform before a small audience, raising the flag of hope in a time of conflict.
Arts, in all their forms, are a means of expression and communication that transcend language and geography. They document disasters and events, embodied by artists and musicians, to be witnesses to human experiences. From wars to pandemics, natural disasters to political conflicts, arts always reflect reality and convey revolutionary and critical messages. Therefore, let us seize every opportunity to support resilience and transform the Jerash Festival, in some aspects, into a means of support and convey the image to the world.
Wars are the most destructive activities in human history, and culture in its literary, intellectual, and artistic details has a long-standing relationship with wars. They have contributed to condemning conflicts, occupations, and aggressions through different representations of 'truth.' Through poetry, singing, colors, and paintings, artists have depicted ideologies, values, and symbols of wars, providing visual testimonies to catastrophic events.
Art is not merely a human response to wars but an exploration of the meaning of violence itself. Even soldiers who participated in wars sculpted artworks from the remnants of battles, turning cruelty and violence into testimonies of events, more effective than news reports in attracting international attention to the plight and consequences of war.
Holding the Jerash Festival this year, amid the war in Gaza, is not ignoring the suffering of its people but a call to the world to rally around their cause and support them through arts that express the spirit of resistance and resilience. Let us celebrate art as a means of conveying messages of peace and solidarity and continue this ancient tradition that unites us in love and hope, facing all difficulties.
M. Khalid Baz al-Haddadin
As tragic events escalate in Gaza, a heated debate has emerged over whether the Jerash Festival should be held this year. Opinions are divided between those who see holding the festival as ignoring the suffering of Gaza’s people and those who believe that art supports their resilience. From this perspective, I would argue that hosting the Jerash Festival and recognizing its symbolism is not a means to ignore reality but a bridge expressing resilience and reflecting the strength of culture and art in facing crises.
The history of the Jerash Festival, which began in 1981, is full of cultural and artistic events that brought together colors and sounds from all over the world. This festival is not just an annual event but a symbol of peace and cultural communication. Over the years, the festival has hosted prominent figures in the world of art, literature, and poetry such as Fairouz, Samih al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Habib al-Zayyudi, Karim al-Iraqi, Sabah Fakhri, Mohammed Abdo, Nagat al-Saghira, Omar al-Abdallat, and others. The ancient city of Jerash has been and still is a stage that combines ancient history with a renewed present.
In times of crises and wars, art has never ceased to express human suffering and hope. Just as Dmitri Shostakovich composed his seventh symphony 'Leningrad' during the German siege, that piece was not just a melody but a call for resilience and determination. Recently, we saw how Jawaher al-Aqra'a found music to be a 'breath of life' in her daily life in the besieged Gaza Strip. Today, in the Deir al-Balah camp where she took refuge, she confirms that she sings to 'overcome the violence of war and give herself resilience.' We have also seen how Ukrainian musicians held a concert in the Kharkov metro station, defying the harshness of war to perform before a small audience, raising the flag of hope in a time of conflict.
Arts, in all their forms, are a means of expression and communication that transcend language and geography. They document disasters and events, embodied by artists and musicians, to be witnesses to human experiences. From wars to pandemics, natural disasters to political conflicts, arts always reflect reality and convey revolutionary and critical messages. Therefore, let us seize every opportunity to support resilience and transform the Jerash Festival, in some aspects, into a means of support and convey the image to the world.
Wars are the most destructive activities in human history, and culture in its literary, intellectual, and artistic details has a long-standing relationship with wars. They have contributed to condemning conflicts, occupations, and aggressions through different representations of 'truth.' Through poetry, singing, colors, and paintings, artists have depicted ideologies, values, and symbols of wars, providing visual testimonies to catastrophic events.
Art is not merely a human response to wars but an exploration of the meaning of violence itself. Even soldiers who participated in wars sculpted artworks from the remnants of battles, turning cruelty and violence into testimonies of events, more effective than news reports in attracting international attention to the plight and consequences of war.
Holding the Jerash Festival this year, amid the war in Gaza, is not ignoring the suffering of its people but a call to the world to rally around their cause and support them through arts that express the spirit of resistance and resilience. Let us celebrate art as a means of conveying messages of peace and solidarity and continue this ancient tradition that unites us in love and hope, facing all difficulties.
M. Khalid Baz al-Haddadin
comments
Culture and Arts in Times of War
display options :
Full
Main image only
without images
comments