Contact points

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THE FIFTH round of Meeting Points, the multi-Arab arts festival, will open on 1 November simultaneously in Alexandria, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Minia, Rabat, Ramallah and Tunis, as well as Berlin and Brussels, writes Engy El-Naggar; the programme extends over a seven-week period. An initiative of the Young Arab Theatre Fund (YATF), the international Brussels-based organisation supporting young artists and emerging cultural spaces, Meeting Points aims cross inter-Arab borders as well as the Arab world's borders with the rest of the world, supporting the production and circulation of -- mainly performances -- allowing directors, actors, filmmakers, singers, visual artists, musicians and dancers to tour the (Arab) world. This year the showpiece will bring together 100 artists from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, South America and Asia. Then programme features 98 performances, 48 exhibitions, and 45 film screenings. As well as existing works, Meeting Points showcases seven new creations, co-produced by the festival and presented in their world premi re this November: one theatre production, one dance piece, two visual art works, one concert and two performances. The programme also includes DVTheque, as well as numerous "fringe" works under the title Unclassified, comprising six projects curated by six arts producers from six of the participant cities.

( Still from a film by Rami Sabbagh )