Ashtar Muallem during the performance of her piece Cosmos, as part of the Sahab festival on contemporary Palestinian creation, at La Gaîté-Lyrique, on June 5, 2026, in Paris. (Credit: Joseph Jabbour)
On stage: a woman, an aerial silk, some onions, a cigarette, and a soundtrack with hypnotic echoes. Then, an intimate life that blends with the history of Jerusalem, told from improbable, even provocative positions. "My grandmother was very religious, she was the one who raised me, she wanted me to be a daughter of God," says Ashtar Muallem, sitting on the floor, lifting her legs and spreading them wide like a sun. On June 5, on the stage at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris, she presented Cosmos, her hybrid performance, during the Sahab festival dedicated to contemporary Palestinian creation."I was born in the most sacred city in the world," evoking its age-old cobblestone streets and spice market. "Well, it's true there are a few tensions," she continues in a downward dog pose, her long brown curls touching...
On stage: a woman, an aerial silk, some onions, a cigarette, and a soundtrack with hypnotic echoes. Then, an intimate life that blends with the history of Jerusalem, told from improbable, even provocative positions. "My grandmother was very religious, she was the one who raised me, she wanted me to be a daughter of God," says Ashtar Muallem, sitting on the floor, lifting her legs and spreading them wide like a sun. On June 5, on the stage at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris, she presented Cosmos, her hybrid performance, during the Sahab festival dedicated to contemporary Palestinian creation."I was born in the most sacred city in the world," evoking its age-old cobblestone streets and spice market. "Well, it's true there are a few tensions," she continues in a downward dog pose, her long brown curls...
