The Strangers Are the Friends fuses music and poetry into a performative, poetic "banquet", exploring migration and the complex diversity of the Jewish diaspora. Playing with the Hebrew language and improvisational music alongside contemporary poetry, it creates a dialogue between past and present and project gently fosters collective understanding of the Jewish diaspora experience.
The project is part of the subtheme The Poetics of Care – Intimacy, Tenderness, Repair.
Author
Mati Shemoelof
Mati Shemoelof, born in Haifa in 1972, is one of the most versatile authors of his generation, with twelve published books. His multilingual works bridge Jewish and Arab perspectives. As a co-founder of Poetic Hafla and Anu אנו نﺣــــﻧ, he plays a key role in Berlin’s literary scene.
Author
Gidi Farhi
Gidi Farhi is a Berlin-based musician, composer, and vocalist whose work expands musical boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in emotional clarity and artistic integrity. Trained in jazz and Oriental music, yet guided by a spirit of exploration, he creates richly textured soundscapes that weave together improvisation, global influences, and lyrical storytelling.
His artistic practice ranges from introspective poetry and songwriting to collaborations with poets, dancers, and interdisciplinary ensembles. Living at the intersection of cultures and artistic forms, Farhi’s work invites audiences to feel, reflect, and encounter something unexpected yet profoundly resonant.
Recent projects include Genes, a live-composing trio whose debut album Presents of Presence was released in 2020; the Berliner Orient Ensemble, dedicated to blending Jewish and Arab Middle Eastern musical traditions; "Gidi & Mati" - a collaboration with the poet Mati Shemoelof; and "Shirei Sade" ("Songs Of The Field") - an album of his own songs.
