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The Search for Power

Tania El Khoury

A dark image with neon yellow/ green lighting, which illuminates Ziad Abu-Rish, wearing black tie on the left, and Tania El Khoury, wearing a dress and drinking from a bottle on the right
Photo by Elina Giounanli

On a night with a sudden electricity outage in their Beirut neighbourhood, 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 a lecture and installation performance featuring the artist, the historian, and the audience.

For more information on this project, please contact Ania Obolewicz at ania@artsadmin.co.uk.

Creation: Tania El Khoury
Performance: Tania El Khoury, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Petra Abousleiman
Research: Ziad Abu-Rish with support from Owain Lawson
Graphic Design: Jana Traboulsi
Production Design: Petra Abousleiman
Sound Design: Ali Beidoun
Dramaturgy: Deborah Pearson

Co-commissioned by Anti Festival and Shubbak Festival. Supported by Arts Council England and brut Wien.

Date Title Venue City
28–30 June 2024 The Search for Power Belluard Bollwerk Festival, Switzerland
A dark image with neon yellow/ green lighting, which illuminates Ziad Abu-Rish, wearing black tie on the left, and Tania El Khoury, wearing a dress and drinking from a bottle on the right
Photo by Elina Giounanli
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