RIHLA
Three months before 7 October 2023 the young poet Ahmed Saleh fled from Gaza. He ended up in Belgium and applied for asylum, which was recently granted to him. He writes and works at Passa Porta, and compiled RIHLA (Arabic for “journey”), a literary program that will premiere in Brussels, with writers Karim Abualroos, Alaa Hassanien and musician Amel Sdiri.
Price
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Programme
this event is accessible for people with mobility impairment
Language
journey
RIHLA is an artistic project that seeks to explore and analyze the experiences of exile and complex identities. It is a deeply human journey through continents and experiences, transcending borders in more than one way. Ahmed Saleh invites two authors and a musician who express in their work how their lives have been impacted and transformed by having left their home.
first edition
This evening is the first event in an ambitious project which will include literature, music, performance and visual arts and will take place in different cities. During this first edition in Brussels poets Karim Abualroos (Palestina) and Alaa Hassanien(Egypt) will read from their work, and the Tunisian singer and violinist Amel Sdiri will perform. Moderator Judith Campagne (VUB) will chair a talk with the artists. There will be simultaneous translation into English by Ghassan Bardiwil. The second edition will take place in Antwerp on 14 November.
collaboration
RIHLA invites you to engage with questions that have no easy answers, to join the paths taken by writers and artists and share ideas of diaspora, origins and identity. It is a collaborative creative exchange among artists and audience that moves beyond the traditional definitions of “borders” and that makes every participant a partaker in personal and collective narratives.
about the curator
Ahmed Saleh is a Palestinian writer, poet, and activist from Gaza, currently based in Brussels. He studied political science and business administration and writes at the intersection of literature, politics, identity, and memory, with a particular focus on the experiences of displacement and alienation drawn from his personal journey through exile and life under siege. He has obtained numerous artistic residencies as a writer, participated in many literary evenings and festivals, and worked as an activist with cultural and human-rights institutions. He has contributed critical and contemplative essays exploring the political and psychological complexities of refuge. His first poetry collection, has been published and he is working on the second.
about the artists
Karim Abualroos is a Palestinian writer and novelist from Gaza, currently residing in Belgium. He is a researcher and research coordinator specializing in Middle Eastern and North African affairs, with a particular focus on Israeli-Palestinian issues. He is also a human rights activist. He holds a Master's degree in Political Science from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, where he also worked as a research assistant, and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Al-Azhar University in Gaza. His first novel was published in 2018. He is currently working on the publication of his second novel.
Alaa Hassanien is a poet, journalist, critic, and filmmaker of Egyptian origin. She was born in 1996 and grew up in Saudi Arabia. She studied drama and criticism at the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts in Cairo and has been living in France since 2022. She has published four poetry collections as well as a short story collection. She received the UNESCO Prize for Classical Arabic Poetry in Paris in 2015 and directed the film Where Did You Come From? in France in 2024. She works in journalism and film criticism, and her works have been translated into English, French, and Spanish.
Amel Sdiri is a Tunisian vocal artist whose work bridges classical operatic singing with Arabic music, jazz, and gospel. Starting her musical journey as a violinist at the age of five, she later found her voice in lyrical singing, developing a style that is both technically refined and emotionally resonant. She holds a degree in Music and Musicology from the Higher Institute of Music in Tunis and is currently pursuing advanced studies in Lyrical Singing at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Amel has performed across Tunisia, France, Germany, Belgium, and the U.S., appearing at major festivals. Her work explores the intersections of heritage, voice, and memory—making music a space for cultural dialogue and artistic reinvention.
about the moderator
Judith Campagne is a PhD-candidate in Philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her dissertation starts at the works of Hannah Arendt. Judith has an interdisciplinary background, with influences from philosophy, art history, and artistic research.
about the translator
Ghassan Bardawil is a Palestinian cultural worker and artist based in Brussels.
He has organized and produced numerous cultural events. He is an experienced on-stage translator (Arabic–English), moderator, and event coordinator, with a focus on projects that explore the intersections of art, identity, and resistance—particularly within Palestinian cultural contexts.
