Palestinian Artists on the Complexity of Navigating Creative Life Abroad

Caroline Châtelet

The Gaza genocide has become a hot button issue in the art world, leading to some controversial approaches to curating and supporting those who take a pro-Palestinian stance. Here we take a look at how two dance makers, both part of the Palestinian diaspora in Europe, are navigating complex institutional dynamics while continuing to create and perform. Marah Haj Hussein and Samar Haddad King tell us about their choreographic work and explain how the current context makes them wary of being perceived as “artists in need of saviors.”  

In January 2026, the French government officially excluded Gaza residents from PAUSE, a program that provides emergency asylum for foreign artists and academics in danger in their home country. As Israel’s genocidal policies continue to kill thousands of people, the voices of Palestinian artists – already marginalized and rare in the French cultural landscape – can hardly be heard. They do exist however, and several stage pieces by artists from Palestine and its diaspora are currently being created, performed and touring, thanks to the support of some cultural institutions and networks.    

Founded in 2005 by composer, dancer, and choreographer Samar Haddad King, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre brings together a group of New York City and Palestinian artists. King, who recently relocated to the southern French port city of Marseille, has received producing and touring support from production company Au Contraire, Lyonnais festival Sens Interdit, and ONDA, a bureau for performing arts distribution in France. They “are really trying to help us have our voices heard, and they make us feel seen,” she says. These organisations have supported Losing It (a duet she co-created with Samaa Wakim in 2021), the festive ensemble Gathering (2025), and her next show, Shabaab, a duet about male friendships in Arab culture performed by Palestinian artists Yousef Sbieh and Mohammad Smahneh.

Choreographer, dancer, and actor Marah Haj Hussein, who recently started performing in France, stresses the importance of not being seen as “an artist in need of a savior.” “I remain faithful to my identity as an artist, beyond my Palestinian identity,” she says. “I had already started building a network of people who were aware of what was going on and wanted to support my work way before the genocide started.” Born in occupied Palestine, Hussein regularly visits her homeland and has been living in Belgium since 2018 – where she “built all her work,” particularly her fertile and striking solo Language: no broblem (2023), which was awarded an industry prize in her adopted country.

While making her second piece, مرتاحة؟ in relation to whom? (2026), co-created with Jaffa-based dancer and choreographer Nur Garabli , she started building relationships with other diasporic Palestinian artists and widening her network in France. “These ongoing collaborations are the ones I want to nurture, says Hussein. “They are about the quality and value of my work, beyond whatever is happening in the world or the pity the genocide might trigger towards Palestinian artists.”

Talking to these Palestinian artists raises a question: are we bound to a humanitarian-inflected reading of their work? Does doing so imply that their legitimacy to produce pieces – as well as the reason behind whatever support they might get – might be an expression of paternalistic or neo-colonial charity? The risk, on the other hand, is to disconnect the situation of Palestinians from contemporary politics and historical context. 

“Living in Marseille, what’s weird is that people see me more as a Palestinian than as an American person from the Palestinian diaspora,” explains King. Born in the USA, she grew up in New York and had her first child in Palestine, where she lived for seventeen years. She notes that the experience of her connection to Palestine is diasporic. “I think that a large part of my personal and artistic development –  the way I understand life, my point of view –  has been connected since childhood to Palestine, to what it means, to questions of identity and being scattered.” Of course this perspective is inflected by genocide. “The current situation affects everything, but I’m trying not to let feelings of guilt restrict me,” says King. “Mulling over our own helplessness over and over could make us believe that we cannot change things – but we can. I hope I can continue to work towards our future while maintaining a bond with my community in Palestine and creating new connections in Marseille.”

What about censorship? King reminds us it exists on several levels and degrees and it can mean that Palestinian artists simply won’t be programmed. “Have I been censored? Absolutely. Have I censored myself out of safety for myself, the people I work with, or my family? Absolutely. Have Palestine supporters been censored? Of course. What is ironic is that we are being censored simply because we are asking for freedom for all.” When faced with such risks of censorship, the solution might be to secure long-term support. 

Initiatives like Ailleurs & Ici – a collaboration between several cultural institutions in and near Paris (including the CN D)  supported by France's Ministry of Culture and connected to national and European partners – might provide one answer. It will provide support for production and international touring for several performing artists, including multi-year support for Hussein. Fériel Bakouri, the Director of cultural venue Points Communs in Cergy-Pontoise and the co-founder of Ailleurs & Ici, explains that “we want to provide long-term support for artists, not just ‘the next show,’ depending on how well the previous one went – which is a growing issue in our current financial context.”  If solidarity is of course a factor here, decisions are still based on an artist’s relevance and the value of their work.

Caroline Châtelet is a performing arts journalist and critic for French media outlets such as Jeu, Mediapart, Novo, Sceneweb, and Théâtre(s). She is also a curator and programmer for documentary cinema, an occasional DJ, and an amateur beekeeper based between Paris and rural Ardéche. 

In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
July 3 to 5, 2026 at Santarcangelo festival (IT)
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In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
October 10 & 11, 2026  at MC93, Bobigny (FR)
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In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
February 26 & 27, 2027 at Les Halles (FR)
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In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
March 3 & 4, 2027 at Monty, Antwerp (NL)
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In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
March 9, 2027 at La Briqueterie, Vitry-sur-seine (FR)
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