The Palestinian Body as an Archive of Historical Knowledge

My research investigates the Palestinian body as a site of historical knowledge, exploring how gestures, movement patterns, and physical forms preserve traces of experiences that were never documented and have gradually disappeared from written history, yet continue to be embodied across generations. Through the study of tangible and intangible folklore, particularly Dabkeh, I examine embodied movement as an alternative source of historical inquiry, opening new perspectives on Palestinian history and revealing how collective memory, cultural identity, and lived experience remain inscribed in the body.

Hanna Tams is a Palestinian choreographer, dancer, researcher, and artistic director of Douban Professional Dance Company.  He is committed to creating work as a means of resistance and dialogue.  He was born and raised in East Jerusalem in 1994, in a Palestinian family whose life, like that of many others, has been shaped by the realities of occupation—realities we Palestinians continue to face today.