Hannah Jamin Zaouad

How to say “come back“? is a poetic documentary theater performance about the new, old and returning faces of the Rif (Morocco), the land of Hannah‘s ancestors. Which examines how the encroaching hospitality-industry is reshaping the region’s landscape and identity. The Rif is shown as a place-in-transit: between borders, between languages – Dutch, French, Spanish, Darija, Tamazight – and between memory and loss.

The performance explores the space between what was lost, what threatens to disappear and what is reclaimed. Through the lens of tourism, migration and language, Hannah asks pressing questions about home, origin and appropriation. Who has a right to land that belongs to no one? What does belonging somewhere mean, if the place itself keeps changing? 

Hannah Jamin Zaouad (they/them/he/him/she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Brussels, with a master’s degree in Theater Studies from UGent. Hannah writes poetry, develops and supervises cultural projects, creates media and stage work, and is active as a dramaturg. Their work circles around theme‘s such as migration, intergenerational trauma and vulnerability. For example, that co-organizer of We Build This Festival (2023-2024), a nomadic culture festival that highlights the often invisible contribution of migration. In their poetic documentary Ghent:Rification (2024) gives that voice to the changes in their hometown. Their poems have appeared in Poëziekrant, Spijker Magazine and Deus Ex-Machina, among others, and have been recited at such venues as Dans!Dichter!Dans!, De Gentse Voorleesbhüne and at Fresh from the Knife and Shakespeare is Dead from DeBuren.

Credits: Concept, text and play: Hannah Jamin Zaouad // Coaching: Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere // Dramaturgy: Zindzi Tillot Owusu Leel-össy Stevens // With thanks to Gouvernement // With support from the Flemish Government and MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP.

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