“The holder of this passport is not entitled to travel to the occupied Palestine.”

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, this is a reality for Iranian nationals. And having an Iranian name will guarantee being subjected to discriminating security checks at the airport in Israel. The route from Tel Aviv to Teheran cannot be calculated using regular route planners. It is almost impossible to get to know one another. It’s better for enemies to remain enemies in order to justify the irreconcilable attitude of both countries.

But despite this enemy stereotype publicised everywhere, Iranians and Israelis are trying to connect via social networks. In groups called “Israel loves Iran” and “Iran loves Israel” they reveal their love and share their fears in a seemingly naïve way. In excesses that border on bodily harm they party their fear away. But inside the scars remain ‒ are they the source of a powerful fracturedness of their language of movement? What is it that moves us in the conflict of these two countries? Have the enemy stereotypes put into people’s minds since childhood been internalised? Which prejudices have become cemented? What do I actually know about the others and what do they know about me?

In I love I the perspectives of the German-Iranian-Israeli ensemble inform each other. Having been caught in their own prejudices, they reduce the clichés to absurdity and explore the political enmeshments behind the conflict. They turn out to be captives in a net which there is apparently no escaping from.

After her dance performances Move in Patterns, Don’t Move and In Motion, in I love I, Modjgan Hashemian addresses issues that are beyond the scope of her identity as a German with Iranian roots and the events in Iran.

Choreography: Modjgan Hashemian

Set/costume design: Shira Wachsmann

Lighting: Asier Solana

Music: Oliver Doerell, Nuri Dehdashti, Nur Ben Shalom

Dramaturgy: Anke Sauerteig

Dancers: Shiran Eliaserov, Kaveh Ghaemi, Michael Shapira, Maryam Zaree