Divan

Divan is the overall title of the festival, but in the programme, the term is also used to bracket a number of other events. On the one hand, Divan stands for the opportunity of establishing a contemporary concept of the Orient, starting from a critique of the traditional point of view: the literary gilding of the Orient by couch travellers during the 18th and 19th century.
In its variety of meanings, Divan can be understood as a re-formulated stage direction for a perfectly planned political event, the location, the actors, the musical framework, and the historical collection, in which only the row of cushions of the western, reclining type of seating remains as a term for a sofa bed.
Another meaning of Divan is also ‘douane', French for the payment of customs duties at a border. Political and ethical acting far away from borders finds its way into a new responsibility of artistic creation beyond geographical areas. Biennial art exhibitions are less and less characterised by cultural imperialism, the mere display of art from different countries, but rather by the discernable formation of a joint dialogue with topics that collectively concern all continents.