Can You Make a Pet of Him Like a Bird or Put Him on a Leash for Your Girls?
Rana Hamadeh
2015, 60′
In English
10,00 / 7,00 €
Ticket reservations and sales at the venue
Structured in the oratorical tradition of the Shiite ceremony of Ashura, Rana Hamadeh's sound-based performance studies and comments on this ceremony’s political, military and legal expressions within the Lebanese and Syrian context. An annual ritual during which mourners re-witness, through the work of narration and oration, the unjust slaying of al Imam al Hussein (626–680 AD), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, and an allegorical reference to the ultimate figure of the oppressed, the Ashuraic tradition provides the structural dramaturgical framework for identifying forms of state violence and their enabling legal apparatuses. Attuning to the configurations of power that constitute the Syrian-Lebanese political connection, as well as the genesis of the al Ba’ath party and that of the military rise of Hezbollah, Hamadeh’s immersive, cacophonous, 8-channel sound play redramatises the logic through which the theatre of Ashura has been transformed in recent decades into a militarised form of theatre. It further proposes a possible language of exit and release.
The performance features very loud sounds and is not suitable for children.
The event will be followed by The Audience Council, a space for reflection and dialogue on how we watched and what we saw. Moderated by Lea Kukovičič.
Trailer: Can You Make a Pet of Him Like a Bird or Put Him on a Leash for Your Girls?
Composition, text, performance: Rana Hamadeh; sound editor: Jorg Schellekens; vocalist: Caroline Daish; audio research: Sara Hamadeh; the original version of this composition was commissioned by the 8th Liverpool Biennial (2014); this performance was commissioned by Western Front (2015); organisation: City of Women in co-operation with Cukrarna; support: Mondriaan Fonds, Ministry of Culture, Municipality of Ljubljana.
