Donya Speaks & Co

Donya Speaks is a dance and theater artist from Bern and Tunis. In her artistic practice, she creates a vibrant dialogue between language and the body and their interconnections. In «Bis zum Ende des Regens / إلــــــــــــــــى آخــــــــــــــــر المــــــــــــــــطر,» she explored her uncle’s Arabic poetry as well as the freedom of movement between North Africa and Europe. In «POETIK P,» she collaborated with artists from Switzerland, Rwanda, and the Congo to develop a conversation about sexuality(ies) and the ongoing sexualization of their bodies.

Through her interdisciplinary and international collaborations, she consciously fosters a diversity of perspectives and challenges Eurocentric interpretive narratives. A central concern of her work is the creation of non-hierarchical stage spaces in which collective responsibility is negotiated. «Fête Finale» is her first solo project. In it, she explores her interest in the performative role of the «host» who, on the one hand, moderates the discussion and, on the other, uses their own body as an instrument to address the themes. With this project, she challenges herself and addresses death—a reality for which we often lack the words. Donya studied at the Accademia Dimitri, Justus Liebig University in Giessen, and the Zurich University of the Arts.