[Music]
member
[Applause]
hello everyone Bonjour norm
good pronunciation thank you very happy
to be here today and I just want to say
very quickly thank you to the organizers
and the wonderful volunteers that have
made this possible we owe them a round
of applause thank you very much
I would like to begin my talk with you
today by introducing you to somebody
very very dear to me and I would like to
show you a video for that introduction
so please I address your attention to
woman us can we increase value one by
having a female Evalia Jared
[Music]
haha yes that woman you just saw in the
video is a character named Sheila Mariam
Saleh in Arabic means aunty I know it’s
Z in Italian correct yes z Maryam yes
auntie Mariam a fictional character I
play and I created because I loved her
from my heart and because that is what I
do
yes I connect with people I explore
lives and I try to bring these stories
live on stage in Saudi Arabia
I am from Saudi Arabia I was born in
Saudi Arabia I sound like this because I
was raised in California Santa Monica
which is something I always like and
it’s also a big part of me yes so um I
created Hailemariam and I perform I took
her live because I perform live in
theaters in Saudi Arabia now some of you
might find that a bit of a contradiction
because there are no public theaters in
Saudi Arabia yes that’s a fact but I
think because I have been hopefully able
to explore the frontiers of my own Arab
culture I’ve been able to perform for
over a decade now Wow yeah and I think
he mentioned in the introduction I took
my one-woman show called head over heels
in Saudi Arabia to the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival in 2013 and became the first
very proud to be the first performer but
hopefully not the last to participate in
the editor of Fringe Festival and now I
have Hailemariam a character I love and
I’m working on she’s come alive on stage
in Saudi Arabia many times most recently
in 2016
to celebrate the achievements of
International Women’s Day on the
occasion yes very good occasions for her
to speak as the
yes everybody loved her she was on stage
doing her thing with many stories of
Saudi women’s achievements and it was a
lovely event
yes that was Hailemariam she’s always
fun and lovely who is Hailemariam Z
Miriam that you saw in the video well
she is a widow a woman born in Mecca
Saudi Arabia she has eight children Wow
yeah we don’t hear that a lot these days
four boys four girls and when her
husband died her eldest was about nine
so um
he’s her favorite of course because he’s
her favorite she doesn’t need to explain
that she is very guilty of favoritism
she’s an advocate of education even
though she didn’t get that education
because she was busy raising these
children she raised them so enclosed to
the people of Mecca and selling them to
the people of Mecca she’s outspoken like
you saw in the video and she’ll go out
and talk and explore in all languages
but it’s really just one language you
know she speaks Arabic and uses
everything else to try and connect yes
and she excuse me
yeah so she believes in a frontier
culture she is very committed and as you
saw in the video she is now here in Rome
exploring the frontiers of Pilates
because she is an explorer yes she is
committed to it so what is a frontier
culture hmm well when we say a frontier
culture I think it means that we want to
establish a relationship and connect
with the part of the culture that is
comfortable for us it is absolutely
important and imperative to connect with
the inhabitants of those culture of that
culture yes so like hala Miriam in the
video as you saw we might enjoy the
lovely pasta yes but it might be just
better to meet the person who’s made
that pasta and give them a hug yeah
so that is what I think frontier culture
is now how is frontier culture different
from mobile culture well what I can say
is that when we read about global
culture terminology comes up such as
sameness or integration or transmission
of values and many people that write
about global culture have asked ok we’re
integrated we’re interacting but is
there some fragmentation they question
where’s the harmony they say well I say
the harmony is in exploration is in
connection yes a frontier culture forces
us to look beyond what we have been
taught to understand as a global culture
so we want to connect more we want to
connect with the inhabitants which is
most important and when we want to
explore because exploration will create
harmony and that’s what we have
Hailemariam is an explorer yes she has
come to Rome as you’ve seen to explore
the frontiers of Pilates because many in
Saudi Arabia have told her that she
needs knee surgery and her son obeyed
her wish to try and find something
alternative so Pilates is the frontier
she is exploring now but there’s a
deeper connection or Callum areum yes to
her Italy is connected to her neighbor
that she had for many years as you saw
in the video she thinks everybody in
Italy looks like her yes but she she
talks of um she talks of this neighbor
and how great this neighbor was hala
Mariam in her story that will follow and
continue and as you saw on the video
she’s searching for panettone yes we’ll
come to that in a minute now hello
Miriam’s connection to the neighbor is
actually based on a true story because I
try to keep truth in my stories that I
create and the characters that I create
we actually had a neighbor years ago
that was Italian and she was very close
to my
grandma so what I’m exploring this story
I communicated with my mom and I said so
what was she lying she said oh well she
was a very nice woman and you know we
befriended her for 30 years your grandma
was close to her cuz my grandma also
spoke Italian and she also made dresses
and this woman was a dressmaker
so she was known to be like the
Valentino of Saudi Arabia everybody knew
where to go to get the best clothes in
Saudi and my mom told me they my grandma
had her made the clothes for my uncle’s
wedding and they connected and she said
but that’s not the only thing she was
very very fun she came to all the
gatherings belly danced joined in
everything they had such a great
relationship and my mom said even at
times of sadness she was there my
grandfather died she was there so I
continued one step further and I called
someone else tried to find more about
this woman so I can give the story to
colum idiom and carry it through so I
asked another neighbor of ours I said do
you remember her Italian neighbor she
said yes of course she used to bring
panettone Anna thorny see yeah panettone
she used to bring panettone from Italy
every time she went I remember that I
didn’t know what panettone was like what
huh and she’s like it’s a bread and
unselfish I did my homework and I
followed it through and I did my
research and that’s why you see in the
video Halla Maryam is looking for
panettone because to her that is
connected to her dear lifelong friend
and neighbor so yes she will keep
searching for the panettone yes she will
find it not now in Italy because it’s
not available now because it’s Easter
she found that out as the story develops
and that’s how I like for my stories to
develop but she will find it because her
son makes a call through the embassy to
the Italian consulate in the embassy in
Jeddah and she has a couple of panettone
left so she’ll give it to hello Miriam
and the story will continue for
Hailemariam
and Cala Miriam will continue so in 2037
or will happen
ah who knows but I know Hailemariam will
continue insha’Allah God willing she
will continue to perform on stage
many many times yes that’s what I hope
will happen in 2037 and it is hopeful
because the government of Saudi Arabia
recently last year introduced the
general authority on entertainment
hopefully to navigate the frontiers of
our culture and bring entertainment
alive yes and in 2037 the search in
solemn areas family for penalty no
walking panettone would continue because
it’s connected to a deep love a deep
memory of a great Italian woman that did
not fear to explore the frontiers of
Arabia and embodied the frontiers of
Italian culture so if we are committed
to explore the frontiers of all cultures
and search for the most advanced
elements that embody that culture we
will have harmony thank you for
you [Applause]
member
[Applause]
hello everyone Bonjour norm
good pronunciation thank you very happy
to be here today and I just want to say
very quickly thank you to the organizers
and the wonderful volunteers that have
made this possible we owe them a round
of applause thank you very much
I would like to begin my talk with you
today by introducing you to somebody
very very dear to me and I would like to
show you a video for that introduction
so please I address your attention to
woman us can we increase value one by
having a female Evalia Jared
[Music]
haha yes that woman you just saw in the
video is a character named Sheila Mariam
Saleh in Arabic means aunty I know it’s
Z in Italian correct yes z Maryam yes
auntie Mariam a fictional character I
play and I created because I loved her
from my heart and because that is what I
do
yes I connect with people I explore
lives and I try to bring these stories
live on stage in Saudi Arabia
I am from Saudi Arabia I was born in
Saudi Arabia I sound like this because I
was raised in California Santa Monica
which is something I always like and
it’s also a big part of me yes so um I
created Hailemariam and I perform I took
her live because I perform live in
theaters in Saudi Arabia now some of you
might find that a bit of a contradiction
because there are no public theaters in
Saudi Arabia yes that’s a fact but I
think because I have been hopefully able
to explore the frontiers of my own Arab
culture I’ve been able to perform for
over a decade now Wow yeah and I think
he mentioned in the introduction I took
my one-woman show called head over heels
in Saudi Arabia to the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival in 2013 and became the first
very proud to be the first performer but
hopefully not the last to participate in
the editor of Fringe Festival and now I
have Hailemariam a character I love and
I’m working on she’s come alive on stage
in Saudi Arabia many times most recently
in 2016
to celebrate the achievements of
International Women’s Day on the
occasion yes very good occasions for her
to speak as the
yes everybody loved her she was on stage
doing her thing with many stories of
Saudi women’s achievements and it was a
lovely event
yes that was Hailemariam she’s always
fun and lovely who is Hailemariam Z
Miriam that you saw in the video well
she is a widow a woman born in Mecca
Saudi Arabia she has eight children Wow
yeah we don’t hear that a lot these days
four boys four girls and when her
husband died her eldest was about nine
so um
he’s her favorite of course because he’s
her favorite she doesn’t need to explain
that she is very guilty of favoritism
she’s an advocate of education even
though she didn’t get that education
because she was busy raising these
children she raised them so enclosed to
the people of Mecca and selling them to
the people of Mecca she’s outspoken like
you saw in the video and she’ll go out
and talk and explore in all languages
but it’s really just one language you
know she speaks Arabic and uses
everything else to try and connect yes
and she excuse me
yeah so she believes in a frontier
culture she is very committed and as you
saw in the video she is now here in Rome
exploring the frontiers of Pilates
because she is an explorer yes she is
committed to it so what is a frontier
culture hmm well when we say a frontier
culture I think it means that we want to
establish a relationship and connect
with the part of the culture that is
comfortable for us it is absolutely
important and imperative to connect with
the inhabitants of those culture of that
culture yes so like hala Miriam in the
video as you saw we might enjoy the
lovely pasta yes but it might be just
better to meet the person who’s made
that pasta and give them a hug yeah
so that is what I think frontier culture
is now how is frontier culture different
from mobile culture well what I can say
is that when we read about global
culture terminology comes up such as
sameness or integration or transmission
of values and many people that write
about global culture have asked ok we’re
integrated we’re interacting but is
there some fragmentation they question
where’s the harmony they say well I say
the harmony is in exploration is in
connection yes a frontier culture forces
us to look beyond what we have been
taught to understand as a global culture
so we want to connect more we want to
connect with the inhabitants which is
most important and when we want to
explore because exploration will create
harmony and that’s what we have
Hailemariam is an explorer yes she has
come to Rome as you’ve seen to explore
the frontiers of Pilates because many in
Saudi Arabia have told her that she
needs knee surgery and her son obeyed
her wish to try and find something
alternative so Pilates is the frontier
she is exploring now but there’s a
deeper connection or Callum areum yes to
her Italy is connected to her neighbor
that she had for many years as you saw
in the video she thinks everybody in
Italy looks like her yes but she she
talks of um she talks of this neighbor
and how great this neighbor was hala
Mariam in her story that will follow and
continue and as you saw on the video
she’s searching for panettone yes we’ll
come to that in a minute now hello
Miriam’s connection to the neighbor is
actually based on a true story because I
try to keep truth in my stories that I
create and the characters that I create
we actually had a neighbor years ago
that was Italian and she was very close
to my
grandma so what I’m exploring this story
I communicated with my mom and I said so
what was she lying she said oh well she
was a very nice woman and you know we
befriended her for 30 years your grandma
was close to her cuz my grandma also
spoke Italian and she also made dresses
and this woman was a dressmaker
so she was known to be like the
Valentino of Saudi Arabia everybody knew
where to go to get the best clothes in
Saudi and my mom told me they my grandma
had her made the clothes for my uncle’s
wedding and they connected and she said
but that’s not the only thing she was
very very fun she came to all the
gatherings belly danced joined in
everything they had such a great
relationship and my mom said even at
times of sadness she was there my
grandfather died she was there so I
continued one step further and I called
someone else tried to find more about
this woman so I can give the story to
colum idiom and carry it through so I
asked another neighbor of ours I said do
you remember her Italian neighbor she
said yes of course she used to bring
panettone Anna thorny see yeah panettone
she used to bring panettone from Italy
every time she went I remember that I
didn’t know what panettone was like what
huh and she’s like it’s a bread and
unselfish I did my homework and I
followed it through and I did my
research and that’s why you see in the
video Halla Maryam is looking for
panettone because to her that is
connected to her dear lifelong friend
and neighbor so yes she will keep
searching for the panettone yes she will
find it not now in Italy because it’s
not available now because it’s Easter
she found that out as the story develops
and that’s how I like for my stories to
develop but she will find it because her
son makes a call through the embassy to
the Italian consulate in the embassy in
Jeddah and she has a couple of panettone
left so she’ll give it to hello Miriam
and the story will continue for
Hailemariam
and Cala Miriam will continue so in 2037
or will happen
ah who knows but I know Hailemariam will
continue insha’Allah God willing she
will continue to perform on stage
many many times yes that’s what I hope
will happen in 2037 and it is hopeful
because the government of Saudi Arabia
recently last year introduced the
general authority on entertainment
hopefully to navigate the frontiers of
our culture and bring entertainment
alive yes and in 2037 the search in
solemn areas family for penalty no
walking panettone would continue because
it’s connected to a deep love a deep
memory of a great Italian woman that did
not fear to explore the frontiers of
Arabia and embodied the frontiers of
Italian culture so if we are committed
to explore the frontiers of all cultures
and search for the most advanced
elements that embody that culture we
will have harmony thank you for
you [Applause]
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