Je droom, hier, or in English “Your dream, here”, started as (you’ll never guess) a dream. Mustafa Ali Jasim dreamed of creating a unique book, written in different languages, by adolescents of different backgrounds, each one with different dreams and plans for the future. Together with Mustafa, I set out on a journey to find a partner to help him realise his project. Eventually it was the organisation Artforum that took the project under its wings. In the first phase of the project, I took on the role of translator-interpreter. That way, Mustafa and Artforum could exchange ideas without tripping over the language barrier. After the brainstorm phase, the project took on the form of different writing sessions, organised with Arabic- as well as Dutch-speaking adolescents, none of which had earlier experience with writing. After the sessions, I translated one of the Arabic texts for the book.
1 December 2018