

Occupied Stage Festival
Occupied Stage is a performance art festival bringing together artists working across performance, sound, movement, installation and live practice.
Program Overview
Friday 20th of March
17:00
Doors Open
20:00-20:45
“”100 Sounds of Belonging: Berlin”” by Golsana Shenasaei.
Inspired by the stories of 100 migrants in the city, the work explores how sound shapes memory, identity, and our sense of belonging.
Featuring
@golsana.cello - cello electronics visuals
@niki.yaghmaee - violin
@rosharafani - percussion
@mayila_khodadin - dance / choreography
@munir_arreola - dance / choreography
21:00-21:45
“”Walls of Grief حيطان الحسرة”” by Ahmad Baba
An exploration of the embodiment of loss through architectural memory, treating walls as archives of grief.
@baba.withatwist
22:00-22:30
“Systematic Abduction”” by Afshin Chizari
A live performance that examines removal, censorship, and forced displacement through acts of image-making and erasure.
@afshin_chizari and @tarxun_
23:00-23:30
“”CREATURES”” by Melodi Yüci
An immersive dance performance exploring fear as a defining condition of the present. The work navigates transcendent spaces shaped by post-human thought, political polarization, and the rise of authoritarian ideologies.
Featuring
@melololodi
@sophie_prins_taen_
@creatures_performance
00:00-01:00
DJ set by Nourr
A journey to north Africa to pay homage to the queens and kings of chaabi, rai and gnawa music with for their unabashed creativity and unrelenting rythms
@noouurreg
Saturday 21st of March
13:00-15:00
“Distant Touching” – Workshop by Andrii Romanenko @andriiromanenko49
A somatic practice exploring memory, distance and how the body remembers touch when separation makes physical contact impossible.
14:00-14:30
Community Lunch
15:00-16:00
“A Journey Through Ramallah” by Yazan Salah @ya_z_an.dj
An immersive listening experience built from field recordings capturing everyday life in Ramallah.
16:00-16:30
“POWER MOVE” by @razansabbagh_ & @diarya_of_a_pigeon
Using flags, voice and movement, the performance reflects on vulnerability, grief and hope in relation to power and political realities.
17:00-17:35
“Untie the Tide – Of Breath, Bodies & Borders” by @mazen.safadi
A poetry performance moving through grief, breath and collective presence.
18:00_18:30
“Remembrance تذكّر” by Hend el Balouty @balouty
A performance exploring grief, embodied memory and ritual.
Featuring:
@moesabbah
@hadir_nached
@yamira.music
19:00–19:30
Community Dinner
20:00-21:00
Live electronic and harp performance by Aladin & Neam @neamtarek with visual art by Soubhi Shami: @studiodabouss @balout_krew_
21:00-22:00
“To Be a Drop in the Sea” by Hassandra @queenofvirginity
An interactive performance reflecting on migration, water and the Mediterranean as both memory and border.
22:00-23:00
DJ set by @weld.mousa
A set moving from political hip-hop into mahraganat and chaotic bass-driven club rhythms.
23:00-00:00
DJ set by @dakn791
A hybrid DJ set and live rap performance blending heavy beats with Arabic lyricism.
Sunday 22nd of March
12:00
Doors Open
13:00-15:00
“Crossing Narratives” by @_n.unn
A collective workshop that will guide you through a meditation, stream of consciousness writing and collective gathering to reflect on and discuss the social, personal, cultural and political dimensions of our time.
Featuring
@tammy_.tamara
@rawanelmasry
13:30-15:30
“From Hell to Hell” by @ibrahiiiiem @sudanuprisinggermany
A workshop based on upcoming documentary exploring the journeys of Sudanese minors forced to flee war and ending up detained in Greek prisons.
13:30-15:30
Hassala Project @gaza.hassala
A solidarity initiative created to support artists in Gaza whose lives and practices have been disrupted by war.
14:00-14:30
Community Lunch
16:00-17:15
“What are you afraid OF?” By Hakawti fox.m.22
A collective theatre work exploring fear as a political and social force shaping everyday life. Moving between personal anxieties and structural forms of violence, the performance questions how fear is produced.
17:30-18:30
“In The End” by mohammadalideeb
A dance theatre performance confronting memory, loss and the weight of lived history through the body.
19:00-19:30
Community Dinner
20:00-20:45
“A Farewell Letter” by @amrmwahab, Marwan Barakat and Roudi Layous from @ala.bab.allah
A live music performance rooted in Arabic maqam traditions and expanded through improvisation, electronics and groove.
21:00-21:30
@wafaa_saied Live with Noah Ismael
Palestinian singer Wafa Saeid and Oud player Noah Ismael come together in a performance rooted in traditional Palestinian and Arabic music, revisiting songs of heritage, memory and belonging.
Artistic Director: Khaled Barakeh
Project Manager: Khaoula Ben El Hadj
Coordinator: Tamara Ghantous
Curators: Dr Maiada Aboud & Savanna Fortgang
Designer: Engy El Shenawy