It was very, very simple things. Even to have a space in the theatre was such powerful tool that allowed them to feel safe in a community with shared experiences. Even of course, I was privileged and I wasn’t part of this war; I had family there, but still my house is three hundred kilometers from the war. And I suppose we all participated somehow in this war, and still we are in this. I decided to leave my work and my theatre in Berlin and come to Poland. Women in this kind of process, they feel it, they know about it—this kind of community of tears and love exists.
Sophia Skiles: Caroline, what’s coming up for you?
Caroline Hatem: First, I’m very happy to hear Marta and Jasmin’s testimonies and stories. It’s beautiful. I’m going to combine both questions and answers: joy and this dynamic, I wouldn’t dare call it power dynamic, not at all.
So, wherever I go… nowadays, I’m an Arab.
And now, in the recent past, no one is safe. I’ve been seeing this as being all of us on a big boat where of course I have tools: I am a director, and I can produce a work, and I use it with a sort of dragon-like joy. I’m very proud that we can make art. I’m very proud that we can use universal language, texts, stories, narratives to talk about us and impose a form of presence. We are here. I mean, people want to make us extinct. It would be so practical to have a land without people.
I’m thinking a lot about Jung recently, the fact that there is not much I can do against evil. I do not have warplanes, I don’t have bombs, and I don’t think I would enjoy having those tools. So what is it that we can actually do in the face of an evil that is so powerful? His answer is to work on yourself. Work within, be the best person you can be, and this is how you can actually affect the collective. Dig into your shadows. See how selfish and violent you are. See how racist and a horrible person you can be. I mean, as a parent, I can see my own shadow every day because I need to deal with it. I find it explosive.
To be living in such mythical times is an opportunity—to see evil in the eye, unapologetic, as I said, and so blatantly perverting every value, every narrative. It’s so interesting because this is a golden opportunity. Of course, we are crying a lot. But when we do have some peace, just enough peace to create art and transcend and be heard… It’s not even about being heard. It’s not even about foreign audiences being aware or affirming anything. It’s not even about asserting anything. It is mainly about bringing together all that we’ve been, all that we are. Who are we? What are we?
The fact that we rejoice, the fact that we love, the fact that we produce art, ambitious or not, is victory. Shining together is a victory, I believe.
