{"id":112871,"date":"2026-05-27T13:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T11:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/?p=112871"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T11:28:27","slug":"no-mans-land-een-voorstelling-die-medeplichtigheid-onontkoombaar-voelbaar-maakt-op-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/05\/no-mans-land-een-voorstelling-die-medeplichtigheid-onontkoombaar-voelbaar-maakt-op-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"No Man's Land: a performance that makes complicity inescapably palpable On #spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><i>No Man's Land <\/i>by Alaa Minawi tells the story of our present, but also aims to predict the future: our future and, by extension, the future of Palestine. Because, and this is made very clear during the performance, what we do now, today, in Europe, affects what happens there. <i>No Man's Land <\/i>forces us to face our daily actions, our indifference and our silence. This is the last performance I saw at the SPRING Festival in Utrecht, on Saturday 16 May.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\"><i>No Man's Land <\/i>draws on Arab Futurism, the movement that believes another future is possible and, as Minawi says during the performance, \u201cthere may be another end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading western\"><b>The Haram country<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">The performance summarises this idea through a matryoshka-like narrative: different narrative layers unfold on stage. Initially, it is the author himself, Alaa Minawi, who explains what the performance is about, while the main performer, Wajdi, dressed as a technician, builds the stage on which the performance will take place. White cloths, arranged by the performer, create a \u201cstrange\u201d space, completely white and anonymous, with no precise setting: it is the No Man's Land, like the strip of land between North and South Korea, an area without a state, without a law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">A \u2018no man's land\u2019, as Minawi explains, can be translated in Arabic as haram land, which literally means \u2018the land of sin\u2019, but how can a country be sinful? This land represents what has often been proposed as a \u2018solution\u2019 to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the idea of resettling Palestinians in the Sinai desert. Here, Wajdi stands alone, while Minawi remains outside. Wajdi represents the future of Palestine, the sole survivor of his people, while Minawi tells him what is happening outside, in our present and in a possible future. Outside that strip of land, the no man's land, those who have occupied the rest of its territory are constantly partying, with DJ sets blaring everywhere. \u201cAre they happy now?\u201d, asks Wajdi. \u201cNo,\u201d replies Minawi, telling us how they are trying so hard to forget the Palestinians that all the olive trees have been burnt and it is now illegal to plant them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">Minawi tells us this is because otherwise they would hear the voices of the people they killed. Wajdi, alone, still hears them singing: the loved ones he has lost. Wajdi embodies the love and resilience of the Palestinian people, while on the other hand, those responsible are haunted by the memory of what they did. The West, of course, is complicit in this massacre. Minawi's criticism spares no one, from the United States to the art world, to those whose only concern is posting on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">In this scenario, where public guilt runs high, Wajdi also offers a glimmer of hope: for every protest on the streets, a flower bloomed in his country, and he could feel the support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading western\"><b>The body of the Arab man<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">But why is Wajdi still alive? Because, Minawi explains, they have to keep him alive; otherwise \u2018they\u2019 will start killing other groups, and then each other, until there is no one left on earth. It is also very telling that Wajdi is an Arab man who represents the trauma of the Arab body: a body that is often triggered by everyday things, such as loud noises, because they remind us of explosions. Wajdi lives, before our eyes, in a Truman Show in which he is sadly aware of his situation. He knows he has been watched by the whole world and yet his situation remains the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"western wp-block-paragraph\">There is another reason why the Arab man's body matters here, and Minawi says this clearly during the performance: men do not count as victims, but women, children and the elderly do. A young Arab man like Wajdi is seen as a threat, and therefore his body is considered expendable. These young men, I thought during the performance, are the ones who arrive in Europe because the journey is often too dangerous for babies, the elderly and women. They are the ones who bring political hatred upon themselves, the ones accused of crimes. Yet the body that we so often think of as \u201cdangerous\u201d, in <i>No Man's Land <\/i>depicted as wounded, scared, vulnerable: a body that cannot hurt anyone and only gets hurt.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part dystopia, part elegy: Alaa Minawi's *No Man's Land* draws on Arab futurism to paint a picture of the future that awaits the Palestinian people, and forces European audiences to question the extent to which they themselves are responsible for that future.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1291,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","wpai_meta_description":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6695,16518,8843,4759],"tags":[16556,16555,58],"class_list":["post-112871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dans","category-featured","category-podiumkunst","category-theater-podiumkunst-2","tag-genocide","tag-palestina","tag-recensie"],"views":2328,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88956,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2022\/12\/niet-schieten-op-de-rapper-de-3-dingen-die-ik-leerde-van-no-mans-land-2022-nml22\/","url_meta":{"origin":112871,"position":0},"title":"'Don't shoot the rapper!' - The 3 things I learnt from No Man's Land 2022 #nml22","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"8 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"1: Het kunstmatige onderscheid tussen profs en amateurs werkt uitbuiting in de hand. In Nederland kunnen 115 schrijvers leven van de verkoop van hun boeken. De rest van de mensen die zich schrijver noemen, doen dat als bijverdienste. In de popmuziek zullen de cijfers niet heel veel anders liggen. Schrijvers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_20221207_114800_122-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111357,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/05\/work-body-michael-turinsky-laat-ons-indringend-voelen-wat-kapitalisme-met-achterblijvers-doet-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":112871,"position":1},"title":"Work Body: Michael Turinsky makes us feel poignantly what capitalism does to laggards #SPRING","author":"Alessia De Santis","date":"20 May 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"What if the stage operated on different time: slower, more human, less efficient? 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In the festival's opening statement, artistic director Grzegorz Reske, accompanied by Mayor Dijksma, stated how a world in crisis calls for artists who pause, analyse and critique. In a sold-out main hall,...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;DANS&quot;","block_context":{"text":"DANS","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/podiumkunst\/dans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95163,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2024\/09\/zid-theater-presenteert-roots-wings-een-mozaiek-van-wereldse-verhalen-en-persoonlijke-herinneringen\/","url_meta":{"origin":112871,"position":3},"title":"ZID Theatre presents ROOTS &amp; WINGS - a mosaic of worldly stories and personal memories","author":"een van onze leden","date":"7 September 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the multidisciplinary collage performance Roots &amp; Wings on 27 September at 20.00 at ZID Theater Amsterdam! Roots &amp; Wings is a co-creation from ZID Theater Amsterdam and Antwerp-based Madam Fortuna. The performance combines short solo performances by six different dance and theatre makers, each with their personal interpretation of...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;PERSBERICHTEN&quot;","block_context":{"text":"PERSBERICHTEN","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/persberichten\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/formidable\/7\/Issam-Zemmouri-Foto-door-Lucinde-Wahlen-roots-en-wings.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/formidable\/7\/Issam-Zemmouri-Foto-door-Lucinde-Wahlen-roots-en-wings.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/formidable\/7\/Issam-Zemmouri-Foto-door-Lucinde-Wahlen-roots-en-wings.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/formidable\/7\/Issam-Zemmouri-Foto-door-Lucinde-Wahlen-roots-en-wings.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/formidable\/7\/Issam-Zemmouri-Foto-door-Lucinde-Wahlen-roots-en-wings.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102571,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/04\/beleidsbrief-ocw-kabinet-investeert-in-kennis-basisvaardigheden-creativiteit-en-kritisch-denken\/","url_meta":{"origin":112871,"position":4},"title":"OCW policy brief: Cabinet invests in knowledge, basic skills, creativity and critical thinking","author":"Ministerie van OCW","date":"24 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Education and research, culture and media and emancipation are the foundations of a resilient and prosperous society. In the current time of tensions in the world, a stronger foundation is needed. That is why the government wants to invest in knowledge, (basic) skills, creativity and critical thinking. This is stated in the policy letter Education, Culture...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53699,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/4-redenen-waarom-cultureel-ondernemerschap-en-subsidie-samengaan\/","url_meta":{"origin":112871,"position":5},"title":"4 reasons why 'cultural entrepreneurship' and subsidy don't mix.","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"3 November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Na afloop drong het eigenlijk pas goed door wat er mis was gegaan op No Man's Land. Het evenement, een soort combinatie van netwerkborrel, symposium en megaworkshop is opgezet vanuit de beste bedoelingen. Initiatief van De Co\u00f6peratie, de club die we niet moeten verwarren met De Co\u00f6peratie. Die laatstgenoemde De\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lucasdemanschijt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lucasdemanschijt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lucasdemanschijt.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lucasdemanschijt.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-tmv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112896,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112871\/revisions\/112896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}