MONTHLY EVENT
Poetic Hafla
The Poetic Hafla, where 'hafla' means 'party' in Arabic, is a monthly event featuring multilingual literary readings, spoken-word poetry, and interdisciplinary performance art. It takes place at various venues throughout the city. Currently, it is located at Lettretage in Berlin.
Barack Moyal and I co-founded 'The Poetic Hafla' after I returned to Berlin from the Basel International Literature Festival in 2016, having met the poets Max Czollek (Germany) and Adi Keissar (Israel) there. On 5 February 2016, we organised a multilingual reading at the home of the renowned Palestinian-Israeli actor Yousuf Sweid. Following this, we were invited to co-curate more readings on different platforms of various sizes around Berlin. Up to 200 people listened to the readings and performances in their original languages. Rather than translating them into German, Hebrew, English or Arabic, we wanted the audience to experience the full extent of our foreignness. Instead, we wanted the audience to experience the full extent of our foreignness. This allowed them to experience the multiculturalism and diversity of Berlin first-hand. Despite there being no common language or syntax, a sense of shared understanding emerged.
Between 2013 and 2018, we held 26 Poetic Hafla events. We also participated in festivals such as: Max Czollek’s 'Radikale Jüdische Kulturtage' festival at the Maxim Gorki Theatre; the 'Berliner Bibliotheks Festival'; Lettrétage, a literary venue in Kreuzberg; Neue Nachbarn bar; Circle-1, a gallery and platform for art and culture; Café De Bagh; Klub DerRepublik; Yafo restaurant; and Media Kantine. It is now part of the Lettrétage performance space. Since 2018 Barack Moyal is the sole curator. However, if you come to watch the show, you might catch me performing on its stage.
Pictures from the second Poetic Hafla by Boaz Arad photography. 18.3.2016.