Sursock parallel tour

video installation, 2023

Video from the installation

DV, Color, 6min, Stereo, 2023

Excerpts from the video installation

I took part in the exhibition ' the city and I' in 2023 at Sursock palace. The exhibition was organized after the restoration of the palace that was damaged due to the blast in 2020. As someone who moved form the Beqaa to study in Beirut during the economic crisis, I did not form a connection to the city. While wandering between the walls of Sursock palace, I came across rooms that were still damaged from the blast. These rooms were to be locked during the exhibition, leaving the viewer only to have access to the restored main hall. Through videos and sounds I took in these rooms, I intuitively molded them into a film recreating my personal lived experiences in different homes I have stayed at in Beirut. A way to form a connection with a place haunted by its invisible accumulations.

Sursock palace kitchen (the room next to the main hall)

دخنة طالعة من بيت المعلوف

ان صادف ورأى احد دخان يتصاعد من بيت من بيوت ضيعة كفرعقاب، علم فوراً أن شيءٌ يُطبخ في حديقة هذا البيت.

video

DV, Color, 7min, Stereo, 2024

Sound installation

7min, Stereo, 2024

Excerpt from the sound installation

This video takes form as a film diary where I recreate a family ritual as an attempt to reconnect to my abandoned village. Earlier I asked my father about the time we used to make arak in the garden; a tradition that faded away after my grandfather's. Since I was young at the time, I was not aware of the full process of arak making and was intrigued by my father's description. What I was sensitive to the most was the act of waiting outside for hours around the boiling pot, tending to the small fire below. In this film diary I experiment with the connection I have between my roots and my artistic practice.

While in the process of arak making, I realized that the pot had a distinct sound due to its shape and consistency, which led me to put the sound work that was playing in the video above, inside it.

sound installation tryout