Lebanon's recent history witnessed a series of traumatic events that drastically affected the country on a societal, and economical level. This resulted in a new Beirut, that is visually dark at night, and sonically less diverse. The cars that pass with their loud music are no longer heard, the chatter of drunken youth moving in Mar Mikhael has disappeared, along with some iconic buildings. Vocal Bodies is an 8 min soundscape which explores the relationship between abandoned spaces, and women’s voices, that have been affected by catastrophes, such as The Revolution, The Pandemic and The Beirut Port Blast. A site-specific intervention was held in June 2021, gathering 7 Arab women from different backgrounds (ages 25-50) based in Beirut, to a historically layered location. "Vocal Bodies" explores their personal stories, and how Lebanon's recent events have impacted them.
lyrics
This is not an aesthetic space, this is an abandoned space, I saw a green jacket and a toy on the stairs. I thought wow people left quickly to the point that maybe they left their toy or they didn’t manage to take all their clothes.
Its yellowish like this, walking in this building asking myself if in a couple of years I’ll come back there is gonna people who squatted here and if I am gonna like see it ugly in that way I will be the one who has a story in this building and not the other way around and it’s a bit scary.
We really have to fight the government. Fighters.
We have to make use of our space and its efficiency. How a person lives in it as well.
And also sitting as one family in a room reminds me of my past.
When a space disappears you cannot relate to the… I mean even your memory disappears with it.
Everyone in 2020 had a shitty year other than the quarantine like personal stuff and everything that was happening. So it was… I grew up.
I mean you know the politics. If your core is solid nobody can do that to you. What I am saying is.. What do you mean by solid core?
A community is a multiple group of people who solidly know themselves. It's really important to not forget what happened. It's really important not to forget.
The idea of community that you are speaking about is very essential.
Violence is rooted in how people are dealing with their ideals. Because these are ideals, when we say solid, for us to be solid, we are tied to a system that really requires us to have self-awareness.
When we are denying what we lived and are hiding it, we are accentuating the trauma.
I didn’t even debate this destruction because in my opinion it's safe even though it is destruction.
Rebirth, it means that you are going to breathe constantly from the same organ, I was just breathing from my mouth. Rebirth, it means that you are going to breathe constantly from the same organ, I was just breathing from my mouth for an hour. Imagine what will happen to your mind. Yes yes. And I was really crying and shouting for an hour and a
half.
Because they are loud, like loud people always get what they want. Because they're loud.
I was shouting but my voice was not going out. That’s so weird, I screamed a lot without a sound.
War field seeing two people like phew you know and I wanted to scream and I was doing the shouting but my voice was not going out. I was doing the shouting but my voice was not going out. That was so weird so I screamed a lot without a sound.
credits
from Istimrar Phase 1,
released September 16, 2021
Project director, composer & photographer: Nour Sokhon
Production manager: Layane El Hajjar
Production assistant: Marie-Joëlle Courson
Sound recordist: Tania Kammoun
Mediator: May Obeid
Mixing & mastering: Redbooth Studio
Founded in 2000,
Irtijal is presently the oldest music festival of Beirut city & one of the longest standing International festivals of post-war Lebanon.
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wonderful. it feels deeply grounding and like floating in a soft, expansive space at once. parts of it are also doing soothing massage to my brain. thank you.
ellasplanet
