Hijra is a poetic and musical migration journey, searching for words that can weave a story on Eastern melodies. A journey from the Middle East to the West, the 'paradise beyond the mountains.' The grass always seems greener on the other side. All your life, you've heard stories about life beyond the mountains; those stories have become your dreams. You decide to go on a journey there, hoping to find this place and call it your homeland. To build a better future and hopefully ensure that your children can continue your story. The journey is not as smooth as the stories tell. Along the way, you are confronted with social, cultural, and political differences. Additionally, you fall ill, homesick. Not everything is as it seems. Indeed, the grass seems greener on the other side. Despite the challenges, you keep going, for your children, but you hope to return to your homeland someday.
Living in the West is a weight inherited from your parents. Every day, that life becomes heavier until it becomes unbearable. Are you living a life for yourself or for your parents? You find yourself in a between position between your parents, yourself, social expectations, and your future.
With the thought that you might one day return to the homeland, the first-generation immigrants from the Middle East may struggle to feel at home in the Netherlands or in the West, while their parents moved here precisely to create a better life. The performance discusses the fact that you're always searching for a better future in the West, and once you have it, you long for the homeland you left behind. As first-generation immigrants, you must be grateful for what you have, pursue a career, preserve culture and faith, all while experiencing the pressure from your parents and family. It's an intermediate position from which you'll never escape and one that every immigrant carries within them. The performance is a journey of every immigrant; after all, we're all immigrants in life seeking a better future. It can become a lonely journey amidst all these people."
Location
Netherlands
Year
2024 - 2025
Sponsors
Municipality Delft
Amarte Fonds
Role
Artist
Team
Abdel Karim el Baz
Riff Roozeboom
Robin Pocornie
Emma Broholm
Manal Azizi
Odai Krede
Athitaya Sokklang
Fares Wehbe
Musa Leenen
Project
Theatre
Language
Arabic
Dutch
Themes
Social pressure
Family
Migration
Duration
30 min
Hijra Tour
Hijra is een poëtische en muzikale emigratiereis opzoek naar een nieuw thuisland. Een land waar dromen kunnen wortelen, groeien en geoogst kunnen worden. Het is een reis naar een land achter de bergen, waar het verleden wordt achtergelaten en heimwee niet bestaat.
هجرة هي رحلة هجرة شعرية وموسيقية بحثًا عن وطن جديد. بلد حيث يمكن للأحلام أن تنبت وتنمو وتُحصد. إنها رحلة إلى بلاد وراء الجبال، حيث يُترك الماضي خلف وحيث لا يوجد الحنين للوطن
Team
Oudail el Omari
Abdel Karim el Baz
Eline Riff Roozeboom
Robin Pocornie
Emma Broholm
Manal Azizi
Odai Krede
Athitaya Sokklang
Fares Wehbe
Musa Leenen
Script & performance
Directing
Production
Decor & light
Costume design
Sounddesign & music
Photography & Film
Tour
Theater de Veste
Woonboot Oostpoort
Royal Delft Museum
Huis van Meerten Museum
Micro Theater
Micro Theater
Multicolor festival Amersfoort
Bibliotheek DOK Delft
Alle tijd festival
Itzinya festival Amersfoort
Amsterdam roots festival
Bibliotheek van tussen verhalen OBA Amsterdam
Iftar DOK Delft
Schouwburg Utrecht
Schouwburg Utrecht
Club Delft Festival
Mooiweer spelen
28 May 2024
30 May 2024
1 June 2024
2 June 2024
6 June 2024
8 June 2024
22 June 2024
11 July 2024
21 August 2024
24 August 2024
28 September 2024
21 November 2024
23 March 2025
18 June 2025
19 June 2025
6 September 2025
7 September 2025
Tour
Feature
Bibliotheek van tussenverhalen
The Library of In-Between Stories is an online library for youth professionals to help young people understand that if you can move between worlds, you possess a special strength. The library shows how young people do this. The Library of In-Between is a library of stories for young people and for professionals who work with them.
Education
Hijra was part of an educational program "Bij Jou en Bij Mij" at Kunst Centraal from 2023 to 2025 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The performance was adapted into an interactive educational lesson and included in their program at elementary schools in Soest and Nieuwegein. The program focused on cultural exchange and explored place of birth, culture, religion, and language. My performance presented a theatrical exchange of my Arabic culture, using language, food, and music as tools to interact with the class and to share my experience of migrating to a different country.