About
In 1999, Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said founded the West-Eastern Divan as a workshop for Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab musicians. Meeting in Weimar, Germany – a place where the humanistic ideals of the Enlightenment are overshadowed by the Holocaust – they materialized a hope to replace ignorance with education, knowledge and understanding; to humanize the other; to imagine a better future.
Within the workshop, individuals who had only interacted with each other through the prism of war found themselves living and working together as equals. As they listened to each other during rehearsals and discussions, they traversed deep political and ideological divides. Though this experiment in coexistence was intended as a one-time event, it quickly evolved into a legendary orchestra.
The West-Eastern Divan is nearly impossible. By bringing together Arab and Israeli musicians, it defies fierce political divides in the Middle East. Three years after it was established, the orchestra was given a home in Seville by the regional Spanish government of Andalusia. The area’s history as a center for sustained coexistence among Muslims, Christians and Jews in Europe continues in the West-Eastern Divan’s rehearsals and discussions.
The origins of the West-Eastern Divan lie in the conversations between its founders, Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim. Over the course of their great friendship, the Palestinian author/scholar and Israeli conductor/pianist discussed ideas on music, culture and humanity. In their exchanges, they realized the urgent need for an alternative way to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The opportunity to do this came when Barenboim and Said initiated the first workshop using their experience as a model. This evolved into the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that global audiences know today.
In 2005, the West-Eastern Divan performed in Ramallah, marking the orchestra’s first event in the Occupied Territories. For many Palestinians in the audience, this was the first time they encountered Israelis in a non-military setting. One young girl remarked to Daniel Barenboim, “You are the first thing I’ve seen from Israel that is not a soldier or a tank.”
Because of the Lebanon War in 2006 some musicians could not attend the orchestra’s rehearsals. Those who did hotly debated and discussed what was happening. Emotions ran high, and the orchestra’s very existence and continuity seemed at stake. While there was ultimately no agreement on any one position, there was meaningful exchange and mutual respect. For individuals who were positioned as enemies, this was an extraordinary achievement.
When open war broke out again in Gaza in 2009, Barenboim began the Divan’s performances by reading a shared statement of the orchestra which said: “We aspire to total freedom and equality between Israelis and Palestinians, and it is on this basis that we come together today to play music.”
Since its earliest years, one of the West-Eastern Divan’s goals has been to perform in all countries represented by its musicians. Eventually, its aspiration is to be the premier orchestra of the Middle East, an opportunity for the great talent from the region to shine. In this spirit, the orchestra and its humanitarian vision will continue its journey.