What is a beginning?
How can we define with precision when an event starts and when it ends?
Is it truly possible to pinpoint an exact starting point?
What forms of violence are embedded in every beginning?
And how can artists work with that concept?
The Athens Epidaurus Festival is organising a workshop entitled Beginnings on Tuesday, 14 July, led by Lebanese creators Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué.
The workshop opens a space for reflection and exchange around the notion of beginnings and the ways in which the origins of an event, a narrative or a historical moment can shape, and also question, our political perspectives. Through discussion, observation, and engagement with selected works by artists whose practice relates to this theme, participants will be invited to reflect on the moment when something begins, as well as on the visible and unseen forces that are set in motion around it.
The workshop is addressed to artists from a range of disciplines, including visual arts, performing arts, and film.
On 12 and 13 July, Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué will present the performance Four Walls and a Roof at Peiraios 260 as part of the Voices of the Arab World focus. More information about the performance can be found here.
Short biographies
Born in Beirut and based in Berlin, Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué have collaborated since 1990 as theatre directors, performers, and writers. Their work explores the ways in which societies and individuals negotiate truth, testimony, and the ideologies that shape political and social realities, particularly in contexts of conflict, war, and contested histories.
In their artistic practice, Majdalanie and Mroué often bring documentary material into dialogue with performance, video, and live theatrical action, investigating what is perceived as real, what can be considered testimony, and how narratives of truth are constructed and manipulated.
Together and independently, they have curated numerous cultural events, taught at universities around the world, and received major international distinctions.
Their works include: Four Walls and a Roof (2024), Hartaqāt (2023), Second Look (series of videos, 2020), Sunny Sunday (2020), Borborygmus (2019), Do I Know You? (2017), 33 rpm and a Few Seconds (2012), Photo-Romance (2009), Appendice (2007), I Had a Dream, Mom (video, 2006), Biokhraphia (2002), and others.
Workshop Details
Date: Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Time: 10:00–14:00
Location: National Theatre of Greece, Ziller Building, Events Hall
Duration: 4 hours (including a short break)
Number of participants: Up to 25 people
Participation fee: 20 euros. Selected participants will be informed by email about the payment procedure.
Language: The workshop will be conducted in English. A good command of the language is required.
Expression of interest
Those interested in participating are invited to send an email to seminars@aefestival.gr with the subject line: FULLNAME_BEGINNINGS. The email should include: a short statement explaining the reasons for wishing to participate in the workshop; a short biographical note. Both texts must be written in English.
