פסטיבל דריסת רגל / المهرجان موطئ قدم / Foothold Festival

B_Tours Tel-Aviv/ Jaffa / Lod, 17–20 May, 2017

Li Lorian, Camila Rhodi, Wanda Dubrau, Ilona Marti, Tom Soloveitzik, Meir Tati, Rotem Volk, Yael Peri, Ran Nahmias, Rabia Salfiti, Alit Kreiz, Sonya Schoenberger, Johanna Steindorf, Paz Ponce Perez-Bustamante and Eran Eizenhamer

Co-production of The Refrigerator (HaMecarer) and B_Tour

Artistic directors and Curators: Yael Sherill, Iris Pshedezki and Gili Zaidman

Foothold is a public international art event presenting sound and/or performance artwork in the form of tours. B_Tour, the festival which served as inspiration for the creation of Foothold, was established in 2013 in Berlin and since took place in different European cities. On May 2017 it took place for the first time in Israel, in Tel-Aviv Jaffa and Lod. Over a long weekend, the audience was invited to join tours, special events and conversations in various locations in the cities including: Tel-Aviv central bus station, Jaffa center, Lod train station, Lod city hall, Han Hilu in Ramat Eshkol neighborhood in Lod and many more. The event featured 17 artists, among them 6 artists from Spain, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland and Austria.

Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Lod are only 15 minutes train ride but the gap is greater than the geographical distance between them. The choice to focus on these mixed cities was made in order to re-examine the meaning of the terms center and periphery and the people and communities behind these definitions.

The name of the event translated into each of the languages, highlights the range of perspectives and experiences that await Foothold visitor, whether a foreigner or a local. In Hebrew, this expression describes an active position from which something new can be initiated, yet there is an intrinsic underlying violence to such an act. In Arabic the corresponding expression is a موطئ قدم that describes a feeling that even in a new place there is someone to trust, both emotionally and in practice. In English Foothold refers to the the action of planting roots and place-making.