How Close Could We Get to the Light and Survive?

Walid Raad
Sweet Talk
English with simultaneous translation into German

“In the past few years, I have had a hard time finding my way to my own thoughts without passing through the writings and concepts of Jalal Toufic. In some instances, when reading his books, I sense that he is transcribing my internal monologue with his own words. How did he access it? Did I let him in?” (Walid Raad)

Mounira Al Solh
I Want to Be a Party
English with simultaneous translation into German

Inspired by pages on Facebook of second-hand items sold by Syrians and Lebanese in Lebanon as well as in the region, Mounira Al Solh reflects on the ongoing impact that war and crisis have on people. Based on her previous work—a series of anecdotes, personal stories, and semi-fictions, captured in paintings and embroideries—Al Solh recollects how her family members had to sell some of their belongings to escape wars in Syria, Lebanon, and the region from as early as the 1940s to the present day: selling objects enabled people to flee or to survive a few more weeks under curfew. In personalizing disasters and in connecting networks over time, spaces, countries, objects, and in the imagination, this work reflects an ongoing and growing crisis.

Part of How Close Could We Get to the Light and Survive?, curated by Rabih Mroué