The Diwan is part of Arab folklore, a gathering or assembly, usually in an open courtyard, for the purpose of listening to folk tales, singing and dancing. In Acre, a town with a mixed Jewish and Arab population, when people mention Diwan, today they are most likely referring to a unique
musical ensemble that sprouted out of the Acre Theater Center. Founded in 1987 by Moni Yosef, an actor and director at the theater, Diwan has evolved from a theatrical storytelling experience tracing the rich 5,000 year history of the sea port town into an Arab-Jewish musical happening.
When the group first participated in the Acre Fringe Theater Festival in 1993, the four-five hour program, described as a "social-theatrical event," included a tour of the old city of Acre in order to acquaint the audience with the Arab lifestyle through hospitality in the artists' homes, a meal of
hummus and, finally, through the Diwan experience itself.
At the 1995 festival, the group of ten musicians (six Arab and four Jewish), a singer and a pair of Sufi dancers, presented "Between the Walls," a concert based upon poems written in the old city of Acre. Ori Vidislavsky, musical director of Diwan, notes, "...to create an encounter between east and west is artificial. One can't create it because it's (already) there. This is our reality in Israel now and all we have left is to listen to (it)."
The result is a show of songs in Arabic, mostly composed by Gazi Abu Baker and sung by Acre native Sahar Fody. The songs express nostalgia and longing for the past and the old way of life, and also hope for the future as in the timely "Despite the Tiredness:"
"Despite the tiredness and fate
The sea is still blus.
Despite the pain and the forgotten
The sun still shines...
However deep the darkness may live
In our brave and beautiful homeland
Morning will arrive
After the night."
Lyrics by Gazi Abu Baker
(translated from Arabic)
Diwan has been invited to ethnic festivals and events in Switzerland and Germany and will be performing "Between the Walls" in Britain
(London and Brighton) in May.