Exhibition-Sale in Namur (Belgium)

The project ran throughout 2008 in the French part of Belgium involving professional artists, amateurs, schools, academies, universities and many others in decorating and transforming chairs into unique art works.

Several Exposition-sales in many locations in Belgium were organized by P.A.C. where people had the chance to admire the beautiful chairs and bring one (or two!) home while supporting the school! In fact the money raised from the sales is aimed at founding the development of the circus school of Ramallah and at the purchase of its circus equipments

The action went far, consisting not only of a series of Exposition-Sales organized during 2008 throughout the French part of Belgium, but also of a beautiful Photos-Exhibition, a remarkable  book and documentary about our young school!

Our experience has been selected by P.A.C. as a lens through which to document and analyse the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the daily life of many Palestinians, full of obstacles and humiliations

To prepare the action of “Asseoir l'Espoir” we received a mission of P.A.C. in Palestine at the end of 2007, together with a team of Notélé (the journalist Dominique Rombaut and the cameraman Romain Basso Basset), a Belgian regional TV station representative and the photographer Veronique Vérchéval.

The team travelled with the circus trainers and students for 10 days, from Hebron to Jenin, to Ramallah, taking part in all of our activities, from circus clubs to the open day with the families of the students!  It was an incredible journey aimed at discovering the new born circus school of Ramallah but especially the situation of Palestine and Palestinians on the ground.

Fragments of that short journey were immortalised in a lot of footage and clicks to put together, once back in Belgium, in order to raise awareness among people, organizations and institutions in Europe about the Palestinian situation.

Photos-Exhibition by Véronique Vercheval

An exhibition of pictures by the photographer Veronique Vercheval accompanies each chair-sale within the “Asseoir L’Espoir” Project.

Véronique Vercheval is a friend of the Palestinian Circus School Team and a Belgium photographer that has been dealing with conflict areas where communities suffer because of the war, the exclusion and the poverty.

Many times she was in Palestine with her camera, in the West Bank as in Gaza, to do reportages about the situation of people on the ground.

In November 2007, she returned to photograph the Palestinian Circus School. In the amazing photo-exhibition that consists of eight large panels and thirty pictures, the photographer confronts the circus experience and the hope it gives with the hard daily environment, the wall and the occupation.

In this way the figures of the young Palestinian circus artists are linked to the existing situation on the ground.

It is from this confrontation that the photo-exhibition takes origin. Each panel pictures the portrait of a Palestinian Circus School student; together with a different part of landscape evoking the Palestinian context. Each pair of pictures is accompanied by texts written by the photographer.

Photos: ©Véronique Vercheval

A Book and a Documentary

In January 2008, during our stay in Belgium, we met with Aurelia Dejond, a young Belgian journalist and writer.

She became intrigued by the circus team and interviewed each of the “Circus Behind the Wall” performers. P.A.C. convinced her to travel to Palestine and come and meet us in our 'natural environment.'

So she decided to follow us and in March 2008 we received Aurelia for a week in Palestine. That was her very fist trip to the Middle East.

Photo: © Vèronique Vercheval

The outcome of that week-long journey here, and the images she gathered, was “Un Cirque en Palestine” (A circus in Palestine), an illustrated diary which combined the images taken by Aurelia along with the excellent photographs taken by Veronique.

This book, a collection of individual stories of young students involved in the Palestinian Circus School, is accompanied by a DVD, “Un Cirque en Terre Ceinte” (A Circus in the Holy / Encircled Land), directed by Dominique Rombaut et Romain Basso-Basset – from Notélé.

This book, a collection of individual stories of young students involved in the Palestinian Circus School, is accompanied by a DVD, “Un Cirque en Terre Ceinte” (A Circus in the Holy / Encircled Land), directed by Dominique Rombaut et Romain Basso-Basset – from Notélé.

With great pleasure, the documentary was screened in Palestine for the first time in March 2008, at the French Cultural Centre of Ramallah. Leila Shaid, the Palestinian envoy to the European Commission in Brussels, the Governor of Ramallah and a delegation from the Belgian General Consulate in Jerusalem took part at the event. Everyone who attended – students, their families, curious passers by, and many others - was amazed by this wonderful film.    

Aurelia Dejond interviewing one of the PCS student