Now Is The Time To Say Nothing
By Caroline Williams and Reem Karssli
Where: Hull Central Library, Hull, HU1 3TF
When: Thursday 28th March, 4pm, 6.30pm, 8pm. Friday 29th March, 10am, 11.30am, 2pm, 4pm, 6.30pm, 8pm. Saturday 30th March, 10am, 11.30am.
Tickets: £7 & £5 (concessions)
Recommended for: Ages 12+ (contains depictions of war)
“If you are thinking about someone and they don’t know it, do you think it still matters?”
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is an interactive video installation exploring the role of screens in observing global conflict. The show is a provocation against armchair passivity.
Using stunning video and immersive sound, it follows the real story of Syrian artist Reem Karssli as she captures her daily experience of the Syrian conflict on camera. We see what emerges when she is contacted by a group of teenagers from the UK who want to see beyond the footage they’ve watched on their TVs. Together they co-author an experience which attempts to connect a UK audience to the human story behind the news.
Created over four years, following Reem into an exile which forces her to leave her camera behind, Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is an intimate exploration of what it means to stay connected to each other and of what happens when war and the need for survival gets in the way.
“Exquisitely simple and moving. This is a cunningly constructed and heartfelt piece that acknowledges the complexities of what is happening in Syria, reminds how sitting in the dark watching a screen only distances us, and actively tries to bring us together to reach out to the real people, just like us, whose lives are blighted by war.” – Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
“It’s an act as instinctive and multi-layered as a hug. It’s full of conflict, full of genuinely unanswerable questions, full of love.” – Tim X Atack
A collaboration between Syrian film-maker Reem Karssli, a group of young Londoners and artist Caroline Williams. Video design by May Abdalla and Christina Hardinge. Sound design by Keir Vine, Tom Parkinson and Lewis Gibson. Originally produced by the Young Vic’s Taking Part.
Produced by MAYK
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