"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." Pablo Neruda
Part 1
Invited by Elena Sorokina:
Babi Badalov, Gluklya, TONY, Abdul Sabor, Magdi Masaara, Randa Maddah, Hura Mirshekari and Mehdi Yarmohammadi, Ramo, Carine Prache
- Who is this older man on this photograph? I asked Abdul.
- I don’t know his name, you can call him Ahmad if you want. Nobody gives real names among refugees anyway, you never know what comes next. He always cooked for everybody.
- But where did he get food for everybody?
- No idea. He managed somehow, and he would prepare parata and chai for all of us, he was from Pakistan. We would all get to a lit area of the hangar, sit and eat there, try to keep warm and chat together, it was very nice. I liked to photograph him very much.
- And two young men on the other photo, who are they?
- They lost each other in Serbia. They crossed the Mediterranean together, and then they lost each other. And then they met again in Paris, by pure chance, can you imagine?
- No…
TWO PHOTOGRAPHS BY ABDUL AS BEGINNING
TONY
J'ai traversé le désert et la mer
Laissant derrière moi
sœurs mères et pères
J'avais le choix
Entre mourir
Ou fuir …
Pour le meilleur
Ou pour le pire
Je suis au feu
Dans les gares sur les trottoirs
Beaucoup évitent mon regard
Malgré ça, je garde espoir
J'attends qu'on me tende la main
Qu'on me considère comme un citoyen
Comme un être humain
J'essaye de remonter la pente
J'ai pas le choix
Mais pour le moment je suis
Dans ma tente Quechua
Je ne veux pas vous faire de la peine
Encore moins de la haine
La vie peut être belle si tout le
Monde s'aime
(English translation)
I crossed the desert and the sea
I left
Everything behind me
I left
All my mothers, my fathers and sisters
For worse or for better
My choice was to die
Or to flee...
At every crossroad,
In the train stations, on the sidewalks
Many avoid my gaze,
They look away
And yet I remain
Hopeful
I wait for a hand to hold
I want to be called
A citizen
Like every other human!
I try to get back on my feet
It’s the only choice I’m left with
But for now, I sleep in the street
In my Quechua tent
Don’t feel bad for me
I don’t want your rage
Look at how life can be
Beautiful
With our love shared
Translated by Ramo (Omar Thek-Zeroual)
CARINE PRACHE
A recurrent misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, dividing the Atlantic and Indian oceans. In fact, from the purely geographic point of view, the actual tip lies further, it is about 150 km further to the East-South.
TONY
J’étais gamin
Rien dans les mains
Je monte dans le train
Un trajets sans fin
Des pierres sur mon chemin
J’en ai fait des escaliers
J’en ai fait des escaliers
J’ai pas eu le bonheur
De prendre l’ascenseur
De toutes façons
Quand t’es au fond
Tu peux que monter
Mais n’oublie jamais
Qu’à tout moment
L’ascenseur peut lâcher
Le plus dur n’est pas de tomber
Mais de se relever
Faut pas dormir
Ça peut être pire
Comme l’ami qui boit ton argent
Comme un vampire buvant un verre de sang
Comme un vampire..
(English translation)
I was a wild child
Running after trains
For journeys that never end
With every rock I met
I built stairways
I built stairways
In any way
I could never say
I’ll take an elevator
When you’re at the bottom
You can only rise
Just keep in mind
That at any time
Your lift might decline
It’s easy to fall
And hard to get back up
You mustn’t sleep at all
Keep your eyes up
A friend who uses you
For your money
Is a vampire kissing you
Drinking your blood
Your blood.
Translated by Ramo (Omar Thek-Zeroual)
BABI BADALOV
RANDA MADDAH
Babi Badalov was born in Lerik, Azerbaijan. He was one of the prominent members of the Saint Petersburg art scene in the 1990s, but was obliged to leave the city and the country. He currently lives and works in Paris, producing prolifically and exhibiting extensively. He often describes his work as “art poetry” or “visual poetry”.
Randa Maddah was born in the Golan Heights, she graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture, in Damascus, Syria, and later from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. She has exhibited internationally.
Abdul Saboor was born in Nagrahar, Afghanistan. Forced to flee from the Talibans, he followed the long route to Europe through the Balkans. During the months he travelled, he used his smart phone as a tool to document his life and the lives of other refugees. Since living in Paris, he has participated in numerous exhibitions in France and elsewhere.
Ramo was born in the south of Casablanca in Morocco and initially studied mathematics. Forced to leave his home for reasons of freedom of expression, he came to France, where he currently lives. His poems were published by New River Press in 2017. He performed in Presence of Mehryl Levisse at Musée des Arts Décoratifs and showed his work at the Musée national de l'histoire de l’immigration in Paris.
TONY was born in Paris into a family originally from the island of Réunion. He started to write texts stylistically close to the slam tradition in his early teens and continued to experiment with different styles later on. Among his inspirations are Kery James, Joe Dassin, and Jean Genet.
Author
Elena Sorokina
