The Festival d’Avignon opens as a massacre continues in Gaza.
2nd July 2025
We have chosen Arabic as the guest language of this 2025 edition in order to share with the public the richness of its heritage and the great diversity of its contemporary creation. Dozens of performances, readings, debates, exhibitions, and other works will celebrate this language of knowledge and dialogue, spoken by people of all beliefs and faiths. We do not shy away from the political complexities linked to this language, which is too often used as a tool by those who prefer hatred, racism, and violence. We believe in the power of the arts to open spaces for dialogue and encounter.
As the Festival d’Avignon opens, Israel’s far-right government continues its attacks on Gaza, committing war crimes, blocking humanitarian aid, systematically violating human rights and international law, and causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, among them thousands of children. Children. Children. Children. The terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October, 2023, which we strongly condemn, and the taking of hundreds of Israeli civilians as hostages, whose immediate release we demand, cannot serve as an alibi for the massacre in Gaza, which an increasing number of international organisations are calling a genocide, and which threatens the survival of a people who have been oppressed for decades. An immediate ceasefire is essential to guarantee access to emergency humanitarian aid and compliance with international law.
As the Festival d’Avignon opens, let us come together around artistic creation. Let us try to work toward building a world where, one day soon, festivals can once again take place in Gaza, in peace and freedom.
Tiago Rodrigues – Director of Festival d’Avignon
