Artist’s Sanctum

By Art Vision Collective

A youth-led multidisciplinary performance blending theatre, dance, and music to explore freedom of expression.

This work is a first trial of TheaDonce for Youth, a program envisioned by Art Vision to empower young people across Jordan to co-create artworks through a participatory process. The performance centers on the theme of young people’s rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and association, and aims to provide a safe space for self-representation through movement, voice, and story.The project was created by three emerging artists: Seba Nasser, Waseem AlBado, and Saleem Asfour, who co-founded Art Vision, a multidisciplinary collective based in Amman. In September 2020, the collective began the creative process with movement research that led to a short dance trio. Inspired by this, they designed a 10-session participatory workshop series, selecting 11 young participants through an open call.

The workshops, which ran from November 7 to November 28, 2021, included over 40 hours of basic acting training, script development, and rehearsals. Art Vision was supported by external collaborators, including drama specialist Abdulhadi Alrukb and video maker Wa’ed Almahameed.

The final piece, titled Artist’s Sanctum, is a 30-minute multidisciplinary play incorporating original music, movement, and text. It premiered on November 26, 2021 at Osama Mashini Theatre in Amman, with a small invited audience. The performance was followed by a Q&A session, and participants received certificates for completing the creative process. For most of the performers, this was their first experience on stage—marking a bold beginning in their artistic journeys.