SPRING: No Man’s Land - الأرض الحرام
Alaa Minawi
Performance, Language no problem
SPRING: No Man’s Land - الأرض الحرام
Alaa Minawi
Performance, Language no problem
We are looking for a place
Neither on stage nor among the audience
Neither in the imagination nor in the pleasant reality we are living
Neither inside the body nor outside its peripheries
A place that is neither here nor there
In his first work for the stage, No man’s land, alaa minawi invites the audience to explore the potential of the space in between. The performance is the second part of his series on Arab Futurism, a movement that reimagines the future from a present that no longer functions. While his award-winning installation The Liminal (IDFA 2024) explored the physical confinement of living "within the walls," minawi now embraces the poetic and political openness of the theatre.
Joined by performer Wajdi, minawi travels through the histories of Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine. Together, they navigate a territory that belongs to no one: no man’s land. The greater the tension between two worlds, the larger this space becomes. For minawi, this no man’s land is not a void, but precisely the place where the imagination can breathe again.
Credits
Director and writer alaa minawi | Performers alaa minawi - Wajdi Khalid | Assistant Director and Production Manager Georges Abboud | Technical Director Mohammad Farhat | Stage Manager Mirvat Salhab | Text Advisor Lamia Abi Azar | Costumes props sourcing and innovation Wissy Il Bissy | Sound Designer Jawad Chaaban | Poster Designer Chadi Aoun | Scenography and Light Designer alaa minawi | Videos Documentation and Trailers Bachar Khattar | Assistant Scenographer Hassan Mourad | Vocal Consultant Oussama Abdelfattah
Music
Hawi El Fadayel - Areej Ensemble
Neblina - Ziad Moukarzel
Wahet el Ghoroob (sunset Oasis) - Tamer Karawan
Once Upon a Time (Take two) - Evgeny Grinko
Special Thanks Roula Melki - Marielise Aad - Josyane Bolous - Nidal Al Achcar - Issam Bou Khaled - Abdo Nawwar - Aline Gmayel - Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh - Jalal Lawati - Ahmed El Attar - Ahmad Al Khatib - Sarah Nohra - Ibrahim Nehme - Hussein Baydoun - Marijn Lems - Liesje Knobel - Aart van Bolhuis - Grzegorz Renske - Katerina Bakatsaki - Hilde Guri Bohlin - Petra Serhal - Karim Dakroub - Ahlam Dirani - Mervat El Yafi - Youmna Kambris - Roy Sfeir - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung - Beirut Art Center - Dar El Nimer for Arts and Culture.
This project is supported by Ibsen Scope - SPRING Performing Arts Festival - Cultural Resource - Houna Center - Het Huis Utrecht - Hammana Artist House -Amalgam - Le Monnot Theater
alaa minawi (Beirut, 1982) is a Dutch-Lebanese-Palestinian artist based between Amsterdam and Beirut. His practice operates at the intersection of performing arts and installations, constantly seeking new ways to merge the two. In minawi’s work, the audience is never just a passive observer; they are an integral part of the performance’s structure. By intentionally diminishing the role of the performer, he shines a light on the presence and experience of the spectator.
His work tackles urgent themes such as belonging, Arab Futurism, war, and healing. minawi holds a BA from the Lebanese American University and an MA in Fine Arts from HKU Utrecht. Beyond his own creations, he is a dedicated educator, teaching at the Academies of Art in both Amsterdam and Utrecht, and is a certified RADA trainer for light designers. In 2024, his installation The Liminal received a special jury mention at IDFA.
