Join us on an atmospheric and scenic journey when author and artist Zahna Siham Benamor at this year's Roskilde Festival takes us through events and experiences that have shaped her life as a Dane with Algerian roots.
Through the performance, which is based on the music release Jeg kommer fra Ørkenen mixed with newly composed tracks, Zahna Siham Benamor will rap, sing, and recite her poetry to a back-drop of raï music, heavy beats, and ambient soundscapes.
Here she will energetically and relevantly deliver and dramatize her personal story about feeling torn between a traditional Muslim family and her Danish free spirit, about fleeing to Paris and leaving everything behind, and about loving and losing.
The stories intertwine with larger themes such as feminism, Algerian/French colonial history, migration, anti-colonialism, and anti-racism. The performance I’m Coming From the Desert becomes a rebellion against oppression in all its forms and also a declaration of love for life.
Zahna Siham Benamor is a writer and artist who works at the intersection of performance, text, sound, and installation. In 2024, she published the long poem Se havet som ansigt / ا إ ا ب ا ىلإ ا / La résurrection des fleurs microcosmes and the album Jeg kommer fra Ørkenen together with musician Simon Bjørk Evensen under the artist name Z AMOR & BJÖRK. She is based in Copenhagen.