The heart, a red circle
2024, 06:08min, Color, Stereo
Ausstellung “Danse Macabre – From Urban Perils to Raving Revelry” / Mina Image Centre, Beirut

In collaboration with the Lebanese painter Abed Al Kadiri, I created the two aforementioned video works over a period of two years, serving as animation director.

Through many personal conversations, Abed painted for me a picture of the collective trauma experienced by the Lebanese population: beginning with the Lebanese Civil War, followed by the failed revolution, the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut, and the further exacerbation of social and economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He described a disillusioned society — the “walking dead” — whose only means of healing and coping with trauma is through dance: a danse macabre.

In collaboration with sound artist Jad Atoui, we developed the video work, which has a duration of six minutes and eight seconds (the Beirut port explosion occurred at 6:08 p.m.). The piece guides us through these themes through the body of a dancing protagonist. It presents the nocturnal rave scene as an unexpected refuge: a communal safe space where collective grief, anger, and memories of the past can be processed and transformed.

Visually, the video draws on illustrations and paintings provided to me by Al Kadiri, as well as additional imagery that I created in response to and inspired by his work.