Fisher Center LAB and CCS Bard present Tania El Khoury and Ziad Abu-Rish’s lecture performance and installation, The Search for Power at CCS Bard / Hessel Museum of Art (installation: February 1–23, with live performances February 1–3 and 7–9).
On a night with a sudden electricity outage in their Beirut neighborhood, the artist and her historian husband discussed the history of power cuts 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 a government document dated 1952 that announced scheduled electricity outages across Beirut. The two decided to research the history of power outages in Lebanon, delving 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 it was even possible to imagine a Lebanese state. In space, they collect documents across Lebanon and beyond its borders, visiting the archives of colonial powers: 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 of resistance, survival, and sabotage.
The Search for Power is an interactive sound installation and a live lecture performance that features the artist, the historian, and the audience.
EXPERIENCE
The Search for Power can be experienced as a ticketed live performance or as an open installation without a ticket or reservation.
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, dried apricots, and wine.
TICKETED LIVE PERFORMANCES
• Saturday, February 1 at 6 pm
• Sunday, February 2 at 6 pm
• Monday, February 3 at 6 pm
• Friday, February 7 at 6 pm
• Saturday, February 8 at 6 pm
• Sunday, February 9 at 6 pm
NON-TICKETED OPEN INSTALLATION
In the open installation, the audience is invited to listen through headphones to a pre-recorded text and explore the archive box in their own time.
The Search for Power will be on view at CCS Bard / Hessel Museum of Art from February 1–23. On performance days (above), exhibit hours are 11 am – 4 pm. On days when there are no performances, exhibit hours are Monday through Sunday 11 am – 5 pm.
The last admission for the open installation will be one hour before the museum’s closing.
More information about the installation available here.
