"“[…] even the dead will not be safe from the enemy if he is victorious.”
Walter Benjamin
"
The gardens of Syria are full of the buried dead bodies of activists and protesters. These domestic funerals help prevent the dead from falling into oblivion and protect their identities and stories from being exploited by the regime. The world famous Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury will now, for the first time in Austria, speak about the every-day resistance in her home region.
In her interactive sound installation Gardens Speak, Tania El Khoury presents fragments by ten Syrians whose families were forced to bury their killed loved ones in their own gardens. El Khoury has researched each of these lives with friends and family of the deceased in order to tell their stories in a way they might have chosen themselves. The episodes are completed by authentic sound recordings, making them a moving document of the last moments in the lives of those that have passed.
Tania El Khoury is a Lebanese artist whose work focuses on the interactivity of the audience and deals with the ethical and political potential of such encounters. El Khoury creates installations and performances that involve the audience as active participants. Tania El Khoury’s works have been shown in 32 different countries. She is a 2019 Soros Art Fellow and a recipient of the 2017 International Live Art Prize, the Total Theatre Innovation Award and the 2011 Arches Brick Award. Tania El Khoury has graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research and publications focus on the political potential of interactive live art.
Gardens Speak is an interactive installation in which the participants are invited to lie down on the floor on their own. The venue is not barrier-free. Further info: Tel. +43 (0)1 587 87 74 10 or tickets@brut-wien.at
Limited capacity of 10 people per slot.
Please appear 10 minutes before the respective timeslot.
“Art is supposed to be universal – and there is no more universal thing than fear of death. Or grief. In Gardens Speak, out of the most specific experience, Tania El Khoury crafts something massive.” Paul Mason, Channel 4
“This piece will change the way you think.” What’s on Stage
“Eerily absorbing.” Evening Standard
“A stark, moving theater piece by Tania El Khoury, brings us into painful intimacy with the human cost of the war.” The New York Times
“One of the most uniquely individual and profound theatrical experiences in recent memory.” Edge Media Network
Concept Tania El Khoury Production assistance and audience support Naya Salame Production management Jessica Harrington Research assistance and text (Arabic) Keenana IssaEnglish translation Ziad Abu-Rish Calligraphy and tomb design Dia Batal Set design Abir Saksouk Audio recordings and editing Khairy Eibesh (Stronghold Sound)
Co-initiated by Fierce Festival (GB) and Next Wave Festival (AU) Devised by Artsadmin Artists’ Bursary Scheme. Supported by Arts Council of England
brut in der Galerie Die Schöne
Kuffnergasse 7, 1160 Wien
Gardens Speak is an interactive installation in which the participants are invited to lie down on the floor on their own. The venue is not barrier-free. Further info: Tel. +43 (0)1 587 87 74 10 or tickets@brut-wien.at
Limited capacity of 10 people per slot.
Please appear 10 minutes before the respective timeslot.