Seven reparations, one reckoning: Farah Saleh’s embodied call for justice in Palestine

By Samar Jamal | Photo by Lucas Chih Peng Kao What would you do if you were handed a letter of apology from the UK government for the Balfour Declaration, complete with a promise of reparations to Palestine?  In Farah Saleh’s powerful performance lecture, Balfour Reparations 2024-2044, this provocative scenario becomes reality. Set in 2044, twenty years after a fictional apology is issued, the audience is transported into a world where they are no longer passive spectators – they are an evaluation committee tasked with assessing the UK’s seven reparative commitments.  Through a mix of movement, spoken word, and participatory action, Saleh challenges us to confront the weight of the UK’s colonial past and our role in shaping a decolonial future. “I usually work in a participatory way because I don’t believe in passive spectatorship,” Farah explains over Zoom. “For me, decolonial practice should involve people through bodily experiences and sensations rather than only relying on so-called intellect. It’s about being active and feeling and experiencing and going back to the body and being embodied. It’s a somatic approach where we can work with the body and intellect together.” I went along to the performance when it was held at...