How am I here?! – about dreams in exile
How am I Here?! كيف أنا هون؟
Where would the shelter be when homecoming becomes a nightmare?
Mey Seifan’s transmedial performance, „How am I here?!“, explores the restless feelings surrounding homecoming for Syrians after the diaspora. Through documented late-night dreams and an immersive audio-visual journey, Seifan explores collective trauma. The performance addresses the recurring pattern of dreams turning into nightmarish escapes, incorporating techniques of Lucid Dreaming to deal with the challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Using VR technology and choreographed enactments, Seifan captures the dissonance between nightmarish homecoming and the oppressive reality of exile. The collaborative efforts of the multidisciplinary team and Slowfuture have brought Seifan’s vision to life, inviting audiences to contemplate the profound impact of this emotional conflict. The audience is left contemplating whether to awaken or stay on this haunting train of emotions.
Premiered in 2023, the project takes on new significance following the fall of the Syrian regime in 2024. It invites audiences on a journey through dreams, emotions, uncertainty, fragmented realities, the confrontation of fear, and the reclaiming of control.
Free Entrance/ donation based/ no Reservation/
Team:
How am I Here?
Directed by: Mey Seifan
A project by TANWEEN company:
Concept and Choreography: Mey Seifan
Dramaturgy & Text Consultant: Ziad Adwan
Production & Distribution: TANWEEN Collective
VR and transmedia world production by slowfuture:
Executive creative director and Sound Designer: Basel Naouri
Artistic and Technical director: Riccardo Torresi
Creative technologist: Maxime Lethelier
Visual / VR environment artist: Sohrab Samsam
Director of photography: Eric Hillenbrand
VR developer: Gereon Plättner
Dream Tutorial & Dream Journey Co-Creator: Shadi Ali
Production Management: Layal Seifan
Social Media Manager: Chimene Medlej
Press Coordinator: Ammar Almamoun & Mario Münster
Narrator: Shadi Ali
Tank Dream generative visuals by: Ahmed El Shaer
Cognitive artist: Mert Akbal
Green-Screen footage captured by: Mouna Assali
Infrared footage captured by: Harshini J. Karunaratne
Performers:
Gizem Akman
Beatrix Kroschewski
Amr Karkout
Sonia Levin
Teresa Maria Simeoni
Mey Seifan
Layal Seifan
Special thanks to:
Liwa Yazaji
How am I Here? Funded by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien in the NEUSTART KULTUR program, [Hilfsprogramm tanz:digital] of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.
and supported by:
The German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) // Media library for dance and theatre Ettijahat – Independent Culture اتجاهات – ثقافة مستقلة
Medienwerkstatt im Kulturwerk des berufsverband bildender künstler*innen berlin
Orient Productions / D-CAF Festival.
