TALES FROM ACCO wants to set a mark for freedom of faith and tolerance in cultural attitudes by the means of art. If we consider the genesis and development of the three monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam and also the Greek and Roman mythology, we realize, that they were always submitted to processes of interdependencies and transformation. By putting the focus on the common sources, the similarities of certain motives and intentions, we may be able to activate a dialogue helping to dismantle cemented prejudices, fears and stigmatisations. Since the beginning of this century the expansion of Islamic fundamentalism with its challenge of the western world is to be witnessed as well as the rise of right-wing populist movements and right-wing extremists throughout the democratic countries. The populists work by stoking fear and stigmatising foreigners. Being against foreign cultures they turn particularly against the Islam, a position, which is based mainly on a lack of knowledge of the religion(s). Neither did anti-Semitism – in Muslim states linked to the “enemy” Israel – decrease in western nations.
The project’s aim is to confront the narratives of forces trying to disunite our societies with a cultural force telling tales of mutual interests and commonalities between societies. German, Greek, Italian and Israeli artists (dancers, performers, actors, musicians and painters) and scholars (theatre studies, religion, history and ethnology) meet in order to discuss interweaving textures: It is about superposing (hi-)stories of Greek and Roman mythology, Judaism, Christianity and Islam as they developed in Asia Minor, where they settled and influenced one another for centuries. International, interdisciplinary workshops developed in the cooperation between the EGfKA, Per-Theater-Formance, the Jewish-Arab Acco Theatre Center and the university La Sapienza in Rome, which leads to a performance involving artists from quite different sectors of arts.