大象传媒

Andrea Kidd goes behind the scenes at Festival A New Divan, which brings leading poets and artists from both the East and West together in a lyrical dialogue. The three day event at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin has been inspired by the work of one of Germany鈥檚 most important writers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. His collection of poetry and essays called the East Western Divan was first published 200 years ago. Goethe was fascinated by the Islamic World or the East as he called it and in particular with the poetry of the 14th Century Persian poet Hafiz and this inspired his writing.

Based on a book collection of the same name, A New Divan has poets from both East and West responding to Goethe鈥檚 themes including love, wisdom, paradise and tyranny and writing original poems of their own for a new generation. Their poems have then been translated into English and reinvented again by English speaking poets.

And with Germany re-examining itself 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and with the current rise of the right wing across Europe, we discuss what poetry and art can do for east-west relationships.

We hear from acclaimed artist Bahia Shehab, who stood on the streets of Cairo during the Arab Spring uprising with a spray-can in her hand, determined to deliver one message: No. A thousand times no. She explains why she needed to turn to poetry for her latest video art pieces

Emerati poet and filmmaker Nujoom Alghanem, who represented the UAE at this year鈥檚 Venice Biennale on why her childhood informs her work.
Iraqi poet Fadhil Al-Azzawi, who was jailed during the Ba鈥檛h regime on why Berlin is now his home.
One of Mexico鈥檚 leading writers and environmentalists Homero Aridjis on why poets can have more power than politicians.
Egyptian born poet Iman Mersal discusses the isolation of writing in Arabic while living in Canada
German poet Nora Bossang explains why Berlin feels like the heart of cultural Europe
Arabic scholar and translator Dr Stefan Weidner discusses Goethe and why Germany is open to international ideas
And festival organiser and Gingko publisher Barbara Schwepcke

(Photo: Nujoom Alghanem. Credit: Gingko)