As a part of ‘May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth’ (2020–ongoing), Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme will complement their multi-channel sound and video installation with the immersive audio-visual performance ‘an echo buried, buried, but calling still’ (2022).

This live work will draw upon sound, video, and text from the artist’s larger archive of found and self-authored performances. Through live vocals, electronics, sound sampling and projection, this new work examines the significance of voice and embodiment through song as a testimony to the resilience of communities under threat.

In performance, the body becomes a medium, ushering in a collective voice to echo for posterity through song.

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, ‘an echo buried, buried, but calling still’(performance still) (2022). Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Alan Dimmick

Basel Abbas (b. Nicosia, Cyprus, 1983) and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (b. Boston, USA, 1983) have had solo exhibitions at, among others, the Art Institute of Chicago (2021); Kunstverein in Hamburg (2018); Art Jameel Project Space Dubai (2017); Alt Bomontiada, Istanbul (2017); and Carroll / Fletcher, London (2016).

Their work has been included in major international biennials such as the 12th Sharjah Biennial (2015), the 10th Gwangju Biennale, the 31st São Paulo Biennial (both 2014), the 13th Istanbul Biennial (2013), and the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). They are currently participating in the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022).

‘May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth’ (2020 - ongoing) has been commissioned and presented by the Museum of Modern Art and the DIA Art Foundation, New York City (2020–2022), and presented at Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich (2022).

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, ‘an echo buried, buried, but calling still’(performance still) (2022). Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Alan Dimmick