Breaking Walls 2019 Tangier Summit is a wrap. All the artists, ambassadors, the directing team, and board members have returned home safely. It is now time to walk back the memory lane and revisit what happened in Morocco, while the images are still fresh.
For two weeks, from July 1st to July 15th, 28 young artists from 15 countries, representing nine international delegations, and speaking countless languages, lived and breathed together in Tangier, Morocco. All that to connect, create, and change.
The summit kicked-off on July 2nd, with the arrival of the Tangier delegation – the most memorable entrance by any group, ever. The Tangier artists welcomed us in traditional clothing and treated us with dancing and singing. The summit began with a bang! The intensity has not dropped until the last good-byes were said. On the second day, commenced the writing workshops. In 72 hours, every artist created four pieces of writing and shared them in a safe and open space. The topics ranged from self-care, through knowing oneself, to fight for the truth and the environment. Afterward, everybody selected two pieces, from which the directing team assembled the script of our final performance. On July 13th, following roughly a week of rehearsals, 28 Breaking Walls artists went out on stage and presented “Fight for Truth,” in a packed Auditorium, at the University of New England in Tangier. The show was also streamed on Facebook and YouTube. It was beautiful and moving. Twenty-nine young leaders from all over the world, with distinct experiences as well as cultural and religious backgrounds, came together, overcoming the barriers of difference, and sent the world a message of peace, unity, and tolerance; each one using their own voice. It was everything that Breaking Walls is about! Then, came the time for celebration, a truly Moroccan one. Full of delicious local food and wild local music. It was a magnificent, well-deserved cool-off, after the challenges of the performance.
Before we said our good-byes and everybody went home, we spent a lovely Friendship Day in Asilah and on the nearby beach. Everybody was taking advantage of the last moments among the Breaking Walls family and of the last rays of the African sun before it was dusk and the summit was all but over. The next day, when the sun rose, we were on our way to the airport. Our sights set on the future, slowly appearing on the horizon – Breaking Walls 2020. The countdown has begun!
During the summit, I had a pleasure of representing Warsaw, Poland, as an artist; an experience I will never forget. In two weeks, I have got to know people from all over the world and became friends with them. I have learned about the Moroccan culture as well as the city of Tangier. I have challenged myself to respond to the writing triggers and open up to fellow artists. I have spoken and I have listened. I have laughed and I have been serious. In two weeks, I have become a part of a global family, the Breaking Walls family!
