At the Festival international des Arts de Bordeaux (FAB), Arab artists are exploring their cultural identity through a program that highlights their perspectives. On October 2, the festival featured performances by the company Chara, artist Marah Haj Hussein, and Ahmed El Attar. The festival, which has long focused on Arab artists, is part of the Mediterranean Season, a government-led cultural initiative launched in 2026. This initiative aims to strengthen cultural ties across the Mediterranean region through art, music, and performance. The company Chara presented Selam, a performance directed by Yassine Alaoui Ismaili and Friederike Frost. The show combined hip-hop, traditional dance, and clowning, with a particular moment involving the passing of sneakers as a symbol of fraternal acceptance. The performance took place on the square of the Capucins under an autumn sun, creating a vibrant atmosphere that engaged the audience with themes of unity and shared heritage. Marah Haj Hussein, a Palestinian artist based in Antwerp, performed her debut play Language: no broblem. The piece explored biculturalism through language, featuring English, Arabic, and Hebrew. The use of subtitles for English and Arabic, but not Hebrew, was a deliberate choice to highlight the dominance of Israeli language policies. The performance included anecdotes and a danced finale that showcased Hussein's artistic maturity and presence, drawing attention to the complexities of identity and communication in a divided world. Ahmed El Attar, an Egyptian artist known for his work at the Avignon Festival and his leadership of the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival in Cairo, performed On the Importance of Being an Arab. The show involved El Attar recording and replaying his telephone conversations with friends and family, offering insights into his personal life and views on geopolitical issues such as the situation in Gaza and the rise of fascism in Europe. The performance highlighted the complexity of Arab identity through personal and political reflections, blending intimate moments with broader social commentary.