Avignon Festival Addresses Gaza Conflict Amidst Budgetary Concerns
While the Avignon Festival, established in 1947 with roots in the resistance spirit, has historically been a platform for political discourse, this year’s 79th edition has seen a more subdued engagement with the Gaza conflict, largely overshadowed by important budgetary challenges impacting the French theatrical sector. Despite the backdrop of these financial strains, artists have made gestures of solidarity, and a public declaration was issued condemning the actions in Gaza.
On Saturday, july 12, a “New Avignon Declaration” was read on the forecourt of the Palais des Papes, denouncing “The massacres orchestrated by the Israeli State in Gaza and in the occupied territories.” The statement was delivered by prominent artists including Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Milo Rau, in the presence of festival Director Tiago Rodrigues. Though, the initiative, announced late and with limited dissemination, did not draw large crowds, with fewer than 1,000 people attending the event.
The theatrical profession, traditionally politically engaged, appears to be grappling with the severe budgetary problems that are affecting it’s ecosystem. An evening event titled “Nour” (“Light” in Arabic), scheduled for Tuesday, July 15, was anticipated to feature a statement from jack Lang, president of the Arab World Institute in Paris. Ultimately, it was Radhouane El Meddeb, the artistic director of the event, who spoke, conveying a message of gravity and sobriety: “Nour denounces the programmed annihilation of Palestine and the accomplice silence of those who do not denounce this barbarism.”
