Maya Zbib
Who Is She
Personal information
Performer, Theater Director, Writer
Maya Zbib
What I have done for Lebanon
After 12 years of working with Zoukak Theatre Company; creating theater collectively, promoting culture, and diversifying our psychosocial interventions, I am certain more than ever that our work is necessary and vital. Everyday we see the seeds we planted blossoming into small initiatives led by emerging artists who have taken part in our programs. Every year we are surprised by how many misconceptions about our region are broken through the presentation of our work internationally. Our festival and our studio have become breathing spaces for artists and audiences. Theatre allows us to be together differently, with pleasure, with intelligence and without prejudice; in a context that is scarred with multiple histories of conflicts, this is more than essential.
Contact information / Work
Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association
Ashrafiyeh, Adlieh region 66, Najib Azouri Str., Impasse 39, Shaghouri bldg. 17, 2nd Flr.
Beirut
Lebanon
Education
Education:
- Postgraduate Degree, International Cultural Cooperation and Management, 2009-2011, IL3, University of Barcelona, Spain.
- Master's Degree, Arts in Performance Making, 2007-2008, Goldsmiths College, University of London, United Kingdom.
- Bachelor Degree, Arts in Acting, 1999-2003, Lebanese University, Lebanon.
Areas of expertise
Expertise:
- Theatre / Performance
- Education
- Drama Therapy
- Cultural Management
Languages:
- Arabic
- English
- French
Work history
Jobs:
- Part-time instructor, Communication Arts Department, Lebanese International University (LIU).
- Part-time instructor of Acting Technique, Physical Expression and Dance, Institute of Fine Arts, Lebanese University, 2008-2010.
Honorary office and memberships
- Founding Member, Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association, 2006-present.
- Fellow Member, The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), 2009-2010.
- Honorary citizenship from the city of Palermo 2017
Productions
Exhibitions, lectures & performances:
- Two Heads and a Hand (co-director/co-writer/performer), Al Madina Theater, Beirut / Zicco House Beirut / Zoukak Studio, Beirut / Theatre des 13 Vents, CDN Montpellier, 2016.
- Re-enactment (co-director), Williams College, Massachusetts, USA, 2016.
- In Walking Distance (co-director), Cynthia Woods Mitchell Centre for the Arts, University of Houston, as part of CounterCurrent Festival, USA, 2015.
- He Who Saw Everything (co-director/co-writer/performer), The Battersea Arts Centre, London as part of LIFT festival / Monnot Theater, Beirut / International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK) / Cairo International Festival of Contemporary and Experimental Theatre, 2015.
- Death Comes Through the Eyes (co-director/co-writer/performer), Monnot Theater, Beirut / ITFOK, Kerala / Ubumunto Festival, Kigali / Kunsthall, Stavanger / “Les Scènes du Jura”, Jura / Santiago A Mil Festival, Santiago; Schwindelfrei Festival, Mannheim, 2014.
- Organs Tissues and Candy Games (director) (Based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), New York University, Abu Dhabi, The Performing Arts Center, Saadiyat Island, UAE, 2014.
- Heavens (co-writer/performer), performed across Lebanon / ITFOK, Kerala, 2014.
- A Memory For Forgetfulness (director/co-editor) (Adaption of the book by Mahmoud Darwish) Krefeld and Monchengladbach City Theaters, Germany, 2013.
- Silk Thread (director/co-writer/performer), Zicco House, Beirut / “Voicing Resistance Festival” Ballhaus Theater, Berlin /MUCEM, Marseille Capital of Culture 2013 / ITFOK, Kerala / Zoukak Studio, Beirut, 2012.
- The Music Box (director/writer/performer), performed in several houses in Lebanon / Hakaya Festival, Amman / Avignon Festival Off as part of Tamam Platform / the New York Public Library as part of the Rolex Arts Weekend, New York / Carthage Theatre Festival, Tunis / Fundamental Monodrama Festival, Luxembourg / Collectif Au Quai space, Brussels / Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 2008.
Awards and Distinctions
Awards:
- Zoukak Theatre Company was awarded the Ellen Stewart International Award, 2018.
- Zoukak Theatre Company won the Chirac Foundation Award of Culture for Peace, 2017.
- Zoukak Theatre Company received the preamium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists from the Japan Arts Association , 2017.
- Zoukak Theatre Company received the Euromed dialogue award (for Social Resilience and Creativity), launched by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Fondazione Mediterraneo, 2014.
- Awarded the Chevening / Karim Rida Said Joint scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Performance Making in London, 2007-2008.
- Zoukak Theatre Company won the International Ibsen Scholarship grant, Skien, Norway, 2011.
- Awarded the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, 2010-2011.
- Awarded the Cultural Leadership International Grant, 2008-2009.
- Awarded the Chevening / Karim Rida Said Joint scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Performance Making in London, 2007-2008.
