The international residency programme Frankfurt Moves! aims to support the contemporary performing arts by promoting international emerging artists individually and fostering artistic exchange and intercultural dialogue. The residency programme invites artists from the global south to work in Frankfurt for one month.

More than 250 artists from Asia, Afrika, South America and the Middle East applied in an Open-Call. An expert jury selected the following artists, who will work in Frankfurt from 15. September until 15. October and will get to know the local arts community:

Hana Abdelnabi & Hend Abu Hassanein, Palestine, Story-telling & Performance
Mehdi Dahkan, Marocco, Dance & Performance
Wezile Harmans, South Africa, Performance, Film & Installation
Omayra Martínez Garzón, Argentinia/Colombia, Object-theatre & Videomapping
Trần Minh Hải, Vietnam, Dance

KfW Stiftung and Frankfurt LAB congratulate the selected artists and look forward to the creative meeting in Frankfurt.
On 14. October, the results of the residency period will be publicly presented at the Frankfurt LAB.

Biographies

Hana Abdelnabi (Gaza, Palestine) graduated university in 2010 with a degree in teaching. Due to high unemployment, she decided to improve her acting skills by joining Theater Day Productions, which teaches acting and directing. Since graduating in 2015, she has worked as an actress, director and storyteller. She works with women and young audiences, inside and outside of school environments.

Hend Abu Hassanein (Gaza, Palestine) has been engaged in the performing arts and theater since she enrolled in the Theater Day Productions diploma programme in 2009. In 2014, she received her degree as a drama teacher, director, actress and storyteller. She has performed in numerous plays and conducts theater workshops with kids in schools and community centers. Moreover, she collaborates with women in the Al-Hakawati (storytelling) programme, where they gather testimonies and concerns from women and use them to create theatrical productions.

Mehdi Dahkan (Tangier) is a Moroccan choreographer and performer. He is the founder of the Moroccan dance company Cie Jil Z. Through his work, he questions the politics of space and the body by integrating urban and contemporary practices. He seeks to offer thought-provoking performances inspired by the social concerns of Moroccan, Arab and African youth. His work has been presented at festivals in Ireland, France, Belgium, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Germany. He is currently working on a trilogy entitled “Subject To. Only 14. Kms of Resistance”, which includes a solo, a quintet and a performance on the theme of immigration and the idealisation of (unknown) space.

Wezile Harmans (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is an art practitioner whose interdisciplinary practice encompasses performance, film, installation as a tool for social change. His work confronts prejudices and advocates against social inequality and creates a platform for critical self- reflexivity within unwelcoming spaces. Wezile Harmans’ work is influenced by how things have come to existence, as well as motivations behind certain movements, reactions, human behaviours and mostly how these become symbols. His work has been presented throughout South Africa and internationally and he has participated in several residencies and received awards, such as the Prince Claus Fund Building Beyond Award in 2023.

Omayra Martínez Garzón (Buenos Aires) is a Colombian actress, producer and performer of animated objects. She graduated in Drama at the UNSAM University, Argentina. In 2019, she produced “The butterfly diaspora,” a co-production between Brazil, Chile and Argentina about immigrant women around the world, supported by IBERESCENA. With her performances she has participated in various festivals, such as Sommerwerft in Frankfurt and Women on Stage for Peace in Colombia.

Trần Minh Hải (Hanoi, Vietnam) started her career in contemporary dance in 2017 at Kinergie Studio. She aspires to create new journeys of discovery through movement, dance and "play", thereby expanding and deepening connections. She has participated in many shows and performed at A Touch of Belgium, Krossing Over Arts Festival, the L’EGO Show and other Kinergie Studio productions. In 2021, she co-directed and performed in the contemporary dance “A wo|man” – within the framework of the “Antigone Saison”-project, initiated by the Goethe-Institut Vietnam. In 2022, Minh Hải was nominated for the “active artist” category in the Hanoi Grapevine Finest Pandemic Award.

"Frankfurt Moves!" is an initiative of the foundation KfW Stiftung aimed at promoting artistic exchange and intercultural dialogue. The residency programme in cooperation with the Frankfurt LAB supports international emerging artists in the performing arts.