From Kabul With Love
Coming to stage cloaked in a white sheet, dancing as if she’d only just discovered the use of her hands, rambling on about things which were neither enlightening or entertaining, Edina Husanovic certainly knows how to make an hour feel like a very long time.
‘From Kabul With Love’ involved Husanovic mixing the mediums of belly dancing, performance art and singing (with varying degrees of success) to come to a rather vague and vapid point about war. Except a few bursts of humour, it was grating to watch as it lacked artistic flare and seemed a little slapdash in its execution. Uninspiring and indulgent throughout.
Komedia, 5 May 2012
Rating: 
Woodrow Whyte
I attended this performance with a group of friends and collectively our experience was completely at odds to the one described above by Mr. Woodrow Whyte. I for one found Husanovic’s politically engaged performance and assertion of empowered female sexuality refreshing. Her collage of personal and political events bought into play the troubling and often hidden stories related to war. For example, in bringing into view the politics bound up in the invitation extended to belly dancers to ‘dance for heroes;’ soldiers from the West active in the war in Afghanistan, Husanovic raises many questions. Her ability to raise these questions while at the same time both playing with and demystifying the modes of seduction employed within belly dance was impressive. And her use of belly dance to engage the audience in an unsettling manner aptly turned the objectification of women on its head. Within the moments of humour peppered throughout the performance, alongside the emphasis on her own life experience Edina presented herself in an honest and warm manner. In bringing multiple threads together yet resisting drawing any one conclusion Husanovic not only bought into play the confusing, disruptive and ongoing effects of war but also allowed the audience room to make their own subjective judgements. This performance is no doubt challenging to those accustomed to polished, scripted narratives that come to neat conclusions and those who seek to be comfortably entertained, from a safe distance. For these reasons and many more, it is worth going to experience it!