Celebrating Dissent Festival in Amsterdam
The epic ‘Celebrating
Dissent’ Festival took place between 30 August -1 September in Amsterdam, a
collaboration between the prestigious art and debate institute De Balie and
Maryam Namazie.
Consisting of a
mixture of intense, probing conversations, comedy, art, poetry and dance
perform-ances, films, lectures and protest, the weekend was an education in the
issues facing dissenters fighting religious constraints and the
religious-Right. The work of ex-Muslims and women campaigners was particularly
evident.
More than 50 speakers
from 30 countries worldwide discussed Women’s Dissent; Touching the Holy
Subject; Comedy, the Sacred and Islamophobia; Separation of Religion from the
State; Women against Gods; Identity; and Fighting the Far-Right. The deep wound
left by silence within families was portrayed in a gut-wrenching film ‘No Longer
Without You’ by Nazmiyeh Oral. Nadia El Fani’s brave film ‘Neither Allah
nor Master’ explored the importance of laicité. Speaker upon speaker showed how
some of the most vibrant responses to fundamentalism have come from the
universal desire for freedom – especially where survival has become synonymous
with challenging religion and the religious-Right.
To highlight the
dangers facing dissenters, a public protest of 160 balloons with the names of
those persecuted or murdered for blasphemy and apostasy was held. Participants
at the Festival carried balloons to a nearby square and chalked the names of
dissenters into the pavement as a memorial of sorts. The historic event was
an astounding celebration of apostasy, blasphemy and dissent. From the moment the
city’s Mayor, Femke Halsema, opened the festival by welcoming ‘heretics,
infidels and renegades,’ it was clear that this would be a historic and
remarkable festival committed not only to defending free thought and expression
but also the lives and freedoms of dissenters.
Video footage
30 August 2019
Interview Marathon
with Maryam
Namazie
Interview Marathon with Taslima Nasrin
Interview Marathon with Inna Shevchenko
Interview Marathon with Saif Ul Malook
Interview Marathon with Taslima Nasrin
Interview Marathon with Inna Shevchenko
Interview Marathon with Saif Ul Malook
Interview Marathon
with Zineb El
Rhazoui. An empty chair since she was prevented from coming by Dutch
government.
31 AUGUST 2019
A Conversation on Women’s
Dissent with Inna Shevchenko, Maryam Namazie and Taslima Nasrin. Music
by Shelley Segal. Protest Art by Victoria Guggenheim. Chair: Samira Bouchibti.
Touching the Holy Subject with
Nadia El Fani, Rishvin Ismath, Saif Ul Malook and Sarah Haider. Music by Veedu
Vidz. Chair: Bahram Sadeghi.
Comedy, the Sacred and
Islamophobia with Shabana Rehman, Ali Rizvi and Armin Nabavi. Chair:
Sherin Seyda.
Public Art Protest commemorating
dissenters in a public square.
Separation of Religion from
the State with Afsana Lachaux, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Elżbieta Podleśna,
Homa Arjomand and Sadia Hameed. Chair: Bercan Gunel.
Women against Gods with
Gita Sahgal, Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, Maaike Meijer, Mineke Schipper and Rana
Ahmad. Performance by Atoosa Farahmand. Chair: Ianthe Mosselman.
1 SEPTEMBER 2019
Film Screening Neither
Allah Nor Master by Nadia El Fani followed by a conversation with
Hind Bariaz, Karrar Al Asfoor, Wissam Charafeddine and Zara Kay. Chair: Sophie
Rutenfrans.
Film Screening No Longer
without You by Nazmiyeh Oral followed by a conversation with Cemal
Knudsen Yucel, Fauzia Ilyas, Mimzy Vidz, Omar Makram, Rishvin Ismath, Sohail
Ahmad and Zehra Pala. Chair: Parwin Mirahimy.
On Identity with
Kenan Malik, Harris Sultan, Jimmy Bangash, Rahila Gupta and Yasmin Rehman.
Poetry by Halima Salat. Chair: Jorgen Tjong a Fong.
Fighting the Far-Right;
Celebrating Dissent with Halima Salat, Maryam Namazie, Mohamed Hisham,
Muhammed Syed, Sadia Hameed and Sami Abdallah. Music by Shelley Segal. Chair:
Samira Bouchibti.
There was also artwork
by Mahshad Afshar and Jenny Wenhammar.
