Young Arab artists dream of freedom in unique talent show

Young musicians, dancers, actors and comedians from across the Arab world took to the stage in Tunisia to express their visions of freedom, more than a decade after the Arab Spring uprisings. It was the latest in a string of talent and debate programmes organised by media action group Munathara ('debate'), which aims 'to spark much-needed conversations about rights, freedoms and social change in the Arab world', according to founder Belabbas Benkredda. Munathara was born in 2012, the year after the Arab Spring revolts, kicked off by the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which had sparked high hopes for democracy in a region with an overwhelmingly young population. 'Freedoms under attack' Syrian refugee and stand-up comedian Mohamed al-Kurdi, one of the performers in Saturday's show, said that today, 'young people's freedom is restricted, and not just in the Arab world'. 'All over the world freedoms are under attack,' the 23-year-old added, sitting at the edge of a stage bathed in spotlights during a break from rehearsals. Kurdi, whose TikTok account 'MidoKrdi' has over 2.3 million followers, said that rather than dealing with politics, he wanted to discuss 'the limits we impose on ourselves: fear of failure, fear of success. These things rein in our freedom.' For Saturday's event, he teamed up with fellow comedian and actress Dana Ali Makki, 22, in a comedy act about an overbearing husband and his wife. 'People can be a bit different from their parents and from the society and culture they grew up in,' she said. 'Learn to resist!' He would sit under a shelter he built on the family's roof in Gaza City, to avoid the disapproving ears of his conservative family. He said he had only heard about the competition shortly after the deadline, and composed, recorded and submitted his song in just an hour. 'Freedom's not just about food and drink. You can get a bird and put it in a cage and bring it food, but it's still in captivity.'