Talking to the Wall Colum Sands and Sharon Aviv
Sharon Aviv is an Israeli storyteller, a theatre creator and a graduate of the Visual Theatre College in Jerusalem. She is a winner of the Israeli Artists Committee Creators Award. Sharon takes part in artistic encounters for the promotion of peace in the Middle East through the form of Israeli-Arab story telling sessions.
Colum Sands met Sharon Aviv on stage (literally) during an international storytelling concert in England in 1998. Soon after that first meeting, they began to explore how stories and songs can help to break the silence and lack of communication that is so often the mark of divided communities, not only in their own countries, but also throughout the world.
They decided that in cities like Belfast and Jerusalem there are more walls than we need and they set about preparing a performance that would help take down some of those physical walls and the walls in people's minds. The result is "Talking to the Wall", a highly acclaimed stage performance and CD album.
Two songs on this album were inspired by their performances and workshops in Israel's first integrated school and village for Jews and Arabs, Neve Shalom, Oasis of Peace.
They have toured in Israel, Ireland, England and Scotland, bringing their inspiring mix of songs and stories to theatres, schools, festivals, an air raid shelter, a converted convent and a bedouin tent.
Talking to the Wall is an ongoing project and can be staged as a theatre performance or in a wide range of settings from informal performance to workshops exploring the power of story and song in conflict resolution.
"Walls only lose their power when we transcend their physical boundaries.
Colum and Sharon use the wall as a prop to lean on, to talk across. Here is the meeting place of wide horizons the transcendent intelligence of the heart." Lesley-Ann Wilson Belfast 2001
“Stories influence me more than anything. Hence the combination of singing and story-telling by Sharon Aviv and Colum Sands were like a dream being performed on the stage of reality for a split second before it ended again. But something changed.”
Amalia Binti Ab Aziz Atlantic College 2013
Contact [email protected] or [email protected]
Sharon Aviv is an Israeli storyteller, a theatre creator and a graduate of the Visual Theatre College in Jerusalem. She is a winner of the Israeli Artists Committee Creators Award. Sharon takes part in artistic encounters for the promotion of peace in the Middle East through the form of Israeli-Arab story telling sessions.
Colum Sands met Sharon Aviv on stage (literally) during an international storytelling concert in England in 1998. Soon after that first meeting, they began to explore how stories and songs can help to break the silence and lack of communication that is so often the mark of divided communities, not only in their own countries, but also throughout the world.
They decided that in cities like Belfast and Jerusalem there are more walls than we need and they set about preparing a performance that would help take down some of those physical walls and the walls in people's minds. The result is "Talking to the Wall", a highly acclaimed stage performance and CD album.
Two songs on this album were inspired by their performances and workshops in Israel's first integrated school and village for Jews and Arabs, Neve Shalom, Oasis of Peace.
They have toured in Israel, Ireland, England and Scotland, bringing their inspiring mix of songs and stories to theatres, schools, festivals, an air raid shelter, a converted convent and a bedouin tent.
Talking to the Wall is an ongoing project and can be staged as a theatre performance or in a wide range of settings from informal performance to workshops exploring the power of story and song in conflict resolution.
"Walls only lose their power when we transcend their physical boundaries.
Colum and Sharon use the wall as a prop to lean on, to talk across. Here is the meeting place of wide horizons the transcendent intelligence of the heart." Lesley-Ann Wilson Belfast 2001
“Stories influence me more than anything. Hence the combination of singing and story-telling by Sharon Aviv and Colum Sands were like a dream being performed on the stage of reality for a split second before it ended again. But something changed.”
Amalia Binti Ab Aziz Atlantic College 2013
Contact [email protected] or [email protected]