The Syrian author, actor and journalist Omar Bakbouk has been living in France since 2019.
Omar Bakbouk holds a degree in philosophy from the Faculty of Literature in Damascus and a degree in Dramatic Studies from the Damascus Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. He writes for many blogs and newspapers and has also taken part in several Syrian and Arab performances. He founded the Mayyas Group for Performance Arts, which has given several performances in venues in Damascus and Beirut.
He took up a residency at the Chartreuse de Villeneuve-les-Avignon to work on his project ‘A la gare de Beyrouth’, in which a family in Lebanon plan to meet after six years apart, to celebrate the new year. At the event, each person tries to capture a moment from their past, a moment they shared when they were in Syria. But the new social roles they now play create tension between them. The work addresses the loss of belonging, the relationship between the family and its country of origin, and the new societies they are now part of.
Residency postponed to 2021.