Live Performance Art: I Am You
Brief:
The Other Story Project honors all the different accounts, emotions, fonts, genres, and voices in its collection. It joins Flow Exhibition in a circle, all equally aligned, to be part of the experience and to nourish the flow of narratives, the vulnerability, the growth, and the ‘aha’ moments.
Fifteen different stories from the project’s story-collection are selected to shape the life of our protagonist. His life story is thus the experiences of various individuals who shared their stories at different times throughout the lifespan of The Other Story Project. It is thus a melting pot of possibilities. It is us, and it is you.
The method used in script writing is inspired by the Undesirable Elements method of Ping Chong + Company, which is “an ongoing series of community-specific interview-based theater works examining issues of culture and identity.” The “Undesirable Elements” presents a chamber piece of storytelling that weaves individual experiences together in a chronological order; a “seated opera for the spoken word.”
Script Writer:
Fatima Al-Banawi, with reference to fifteen stories in the story collection of The Other Story Project.
Voice Coach:
Nada Al-Mojaddedi.
Performers:
Hakeem Jomah, Nadia Malaika, Bakor Al-Tayar, Sarah Taibah, Lujayn Al-Yamani, Summer Shesha, Ahmed Al-Mojadidi, and Fatima Al-Banawi.
Later joined the Arabic performance: Mohanna Tayeb, Bayan Jamal, and Saleem Al-Homsi.
Location:
With 37 participating artists, Flow Exhibition introduces to the art scene new emerging artists alongside established ones. It is co-curated by Qaswra Hafiz of Hafez Gallery and Noor Al-Dabbagh of Banafsajeel, at the Beydoun Exhibition Space in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gallery:
Hafez Gallery + Banafsajeel
Dates:
February 2 – March 2, 2017
Performance Video Art: A Blink of an Eye
Brief:
As part of the project’s performance series, “A blink of an Eye” is a video performance piece that presents five stories from the collection, weaved together to address ordinary lives effected by different circumstances. Presenting them as ordinary lives is not an understatement, it is rather an open invitation to a realization of our shared humanity, and of a real and honest connection.
In the portrayed social, educational, existential, psychological, and political settings, we trace humans experiencing a great change in circumstances at a blink of an eye. Has your life ever been altered at a blink of an eye?
Idea and Direction: Fatima Al-Banawi
Script Writer: Fatima Al-Banawi, with reference to five stories from The Other Story Project collection
Artwork Name: A Blink of an Eye
Type: Video Installation
Narration & Performance: Fatima Al-Banawi
With special thanks to Director Ali Al-Sumayin, and Director of Photography Moath Al-Thaheri, for their unconditional support and dedication to this pursuit of human connection.
Location:
Makan, a Private Cultural Diwan.
Gallery:
Hafez Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Dates:
February 8 – March 8, 2018