Kirkuk hosted the Ninth International Street Theatre Festival, a three day event organised by the Hawar Theatre Group under the slogan “Theatre is a Message for Stability.” Theatre groups from fifteen countries took part in the festival, which brought vibrant performances to the city’s streets.
Festival president Nejad Nejm said the event has become a yearly tradition. “We did not enter into the festival but rather the festival came into our days. Every year at the start of the eleventh month, we hold this activity. The artistic situation in Kirkuk is different, and our complaints have focused on improving conditions for artists. Kirkuk has been in a position where we belonged neither to Iraq nor to the Region, and much of the work here has been personal because there are no directorates or ministries, only a small office.”
The Shorija neighbourhood hosted a large carnival that stretched for three kilometres and drew around one thousand five hundred attendees. The programme included theatre, dance, Zebellah puppets, and circus acts, extending all the way to the city’s cultural centre.
This year’s productions carried the traditional spirit of street theatre, offering warm and interactive performances. Many plays were comedic or satirical, addressing elections and candidates, reflecting the atmosphere of the current political season. The goal, organisers said, was not mockery but delivering messages aimed at resolving social issues. Theatre groups from Turkey, Iran, Belgium, Austria, Jordan, and Egypt joined Kurdish groups in the line up.
Golden awards were presented to several distinguished artists in theatre, drama, and cinema. Among the honourees were Shwan Attoof, Kurdish actor and director; Jafar Dehghan, a well known Iranian actor; and Farshid Gaveli, a theatre and cinema artist from Eastern Kurdistan. The festival also held a series of artistic workshops, including sessions on physical movement, sound, and techniques for writing street theatre.
The festival’s jury and critical committees were composed of prominent academic and artistic figures. The adult theatre jury was chaired by Shamal Amin from Austria, while the children’s theatre jury was chaired by Munir Reza from Iraq. The research and investigation committee was chaired by Dr Hussein Takmachi, with scholars from Morocco, Southern Kurdistan, and Egypt serving alongside him.
