Tania El Khoury and Ziad Abu-Rish: The Search for Power
On a night with a sudden electricity outage in Beirut, artist Tania El Khoury and her husband, historian Ziad Abu-Rish, promised each other to research the history of power outages in Lebanon. Born during the Lebanese Civil War, the artist had grown up with the understanding that the problem with electricity in Lebanon began during the war. The historian, however, recalled finding ███████████████ that announced scheduled electricity outages across Beirut. The two decided to research the history of power outages in Lebanon. The Search for Power, a performance that places the audience in an intimate gathering, delves into the intersection between public utilities infrastructure, people’s relationship to the state, and various popular mobilizations to shape both. In time, they reach as far back as the introduction of electricity in Beirut before █████████████████████. In space, they collect documents across Lebanon and beyond its borders, visiting the archives of ██████: Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. What they find is a transnational story that locates electricity at the intersection of colonial legacies, the machinations of political and economic elites, and everyday acts ███████████████. The Search for Power is an intimate performance and installation featuring the artist, the historian, and ██████.
The Search for Power can be experienced as a ticketed live performance or as an open installation without ticket or reservation. In the open installation, the audience is invited to listen through headphones to a pre-recorded text and explore the archives box in their own time.
Late seating for the perfomance is not allowed.
FOOD ALLERGY NOTICE: Please be aware that the table featured at the center of the performance will be set with—among other items—candles, tree nuts, grapes, and dried apricots. For the open installation, the table featured at the center of will be set with almonds, walnuts, dates, dried apricots, and apple cider.