In Conversation: Officer Az-oolay

PRESENTATION : FOOD : DISCUSSION

THE INVITATION

We are delighted to invite you to an evening of conversation and food with our guest; Idit, the artist and creator of Police Officer Az-Oolay from Jerusalem.

Idit will share stories and experiences of her time in the streets, at protests and demonstrations in the heart of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and supporting the families of hostages since the Gaza crisis began. Through her work as Police Officer Az-Oolay she aims to transcend violence and oppression and to connect all beating hearts through love.

Idit studied at California’s Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. Her clown is inspired by the Italian Commedia Dell’arte tradition of improvised performances using slapstick, mime and physical comedy. By bringing the naivity and qualities of clown; she aims to create a gap in the mind of her audiences, a space for softness, connection and more hopeful narratives can seep through.

The evening will include a presentation of her work and a facilitated conversation with Michal Nahman; who is Associate Professor in Social Anthropology at UWE Bristol and a performer. Hosted by Gabrielle Lobb.

DATES & TIMES:
Saturday 25 May
6.30pm Arrival
7pm Start

WHERE:
Fishponds, Bristol

COST:
£10 / £12 / £15 depending on your means
includes vegan buffet and drinks

RSVP: before 23 May - numbers limited

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ABOUT OFFICER AZ-OOLAY
Officer Az-Oolay (“then may be” – in Hebrew”) is the lone officer of the Yashar-el Ha-Lev (Straight to the Heart, in Hebrew) police force. The clown officer was a creative response that emerged from the weekly demonstrations in Balfour Street in Jerusalem in 2020, against the government. As protesters were met by increased violence from police, Officer Az-Oolay entered, dressed in a wrinkled blue uniform, a flower garlanded police hat, a red clown’s nose. In January 2021 she started taking part in shifts in Ultra Orthodox demonstrations and since May 2021 has been present in clashes of police with Palestinians of East Jerusalem. Since October 7 Officer Az-Oolay was active with other clowns in hotels of people the evacuated from their homes. On November she established a walk from Jerusalem to the border with Gaza - 6 day walk that was named “A walk from heart to heart” and another walk on January 2024 on the shore of the sea from Tel Aviv to Gaza border a 4 day walk named “walking on the horizon” both walks are an action of prayer in space for the hostages to come back home for making “laugh not war” and “making bubbles not bombs” and for safety and nourishment for all beating hearts in the region. Officer Az-Oolay creates an inverted mirror to bodies of the police, the army, and bands of citizens who oppose equal rights; trying to break down the repressive power that they represent. Working throughout Jerusalem, the West Bank and beyond, Officer Az-Oolay ushers in a new political imagination, providing moments of mercy and healing in these complex political times.
@Shoteretazoolay

ABOUT ROBYN

Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts. She has a MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers including Holly Stoppit, Peta Lily, Giovanni Fusetti, Bim Mason, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Lucy Hopkins and John Wright.
Over the past five years she has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and a deep desire to address the injustices in the world. This specialism has developed through her Masters Research ‘Small Circus Acts of Resistance’, on the streets and in protests with the Bristol Rebel Clowns and in research residencies with The Trickster Laboratory.
Robyn’s Activist Clown research has led to collaborations with Jay Jordan (Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, France), Clown Me In (Beirut), LM Bogad (US), Hilary Ramsden (Greece) and international Tricksters; ‘The Yes Men’ (US).
During the pandemic in 2020, Robyn set up The Online Clown Academy with Holly Stoppit and developed a series of Zoom Clown Courses. Robyn’s research, started during her Masters, has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and activism, online, in the real world and with international collaborators. With this drive to explore political edges of her work she has also dived back into the world of the Bouffon; training with Jaime Mears, Bim Mason, Nathaniel Justiniano, Eric Davis, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier.
Keen to explore the intersection of clowning and politics, Robyn is driven to create collaborative, research spaces, testing and pushing the limits of the artform to create new knowledge and methodologies for her industry and strengthen partnerships for future work. Some of her most recent collaborations and teaching projects have included the Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy (5-day Activist Clown Training), The Laboratory of the Un-beautiful (Feminist Grotesque Bouffon Training for Womxn Theatre Makers) and the Clown Congress (annual gathering of clowns, activists & academics collectively exploring what it means to be a clown in this current era)

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Photo by HeardinLondon Photography