Ashkal Alwan’s new space will launch on July 14 with a performance by Tarek Atoui and Eric La Casa
Waters’ Witness — Beirut
Two showings at 5PM and 6:30PM
For more info: https://www.ashkalalwan.org/program.php?category=4&id=504

Between October 12 and 17, 2019, Tarek Atoui and Eric La Casa recorded Beirut’s harbor and the activity of its docks, hangars, and silos as part of Atoui’s ongoing I/E project, which aims to explore port cities. In the last days of their recording trip, they invited deaf students from the Orphan Welfare Society in Saida to both participate in recording the port and activate these recorded sounds as part of a performance. The activation was scheduled to take place on October 19, 2019 as part of the 8th edition of Home Works, Ashkal Alwan’s multidisciplinary forum—then indefinitely postponed on the eve of Lebanon’s uprisings. 

Three years later, this project will be presented in a new form conceived specifically for Beirut and Ashkal Alwan’s new space. La Casa and Atoui will be joined by a new group of students from the Orphan Welfare Society as well as drummer Akram Hajj, who has been closely working with Atoui in residency at his studio in Paris. Compositions made from sounds recorded at the Beirut Port will be played in underwater environments and inside Hajj’s bass drum. Compositions made from sounds recorded at the Beirut Port will be played in underwater environments. By sensing vibrations with the use of their hands, the guest performers will manipulate the harbor’s sounds and add other ones through touch, sight, and sign language. 

With the participation of:

– Orphan Welfare Society Saida Students: Ahmad al Hamzaoui, Abd el Rahman Moustapha, Farah Sadek, Yara Chehadeh, Reem Hamad, Hiba al Bathich

– Akram Hajj

Special thanks to:

– Pauline Roches: Production and Logistics

– Igor Porte and Thomas Besset: Research and Assistance (Paris)

– Jad Atoui: Advising and Coordination

– Orphan Welfare Society: Dr. Said Mekkaoui, Hiba Kain, Nisrine Khodr, Darine Habach