ayman kaake

“Lullaby”, one-channel video displayed on the artist’ Iphone 5, 2020

Shot after the Blast that took place in Beirut, Lebanon the 4th of August 2020, filmed in my garage in Melbourne, during lockdown, music “La vie en rose” played by the artist with a broken music box instrument.

At the moment of the explosion, the end of the world, bodies, buildings, roads and cities may shatter. Perhaps the universe itself breaks apart. But the most severe fragmenting remains that of memory. The wounds recur, again and again, day after day. Shattered images from a shattered memory.

Just as a Lebanese migrant in Australia, I bear witness to our wars and our continuing calamities, so does this video stand as a witness to the devastation outside of time – a witness that no longer has anything to say. Here, time does not come to a stop. Instead, it disappears, leaving you in harsh confrontation with yourself. When you stand outside the conflict to bear witness, it is as if you are standing outside of time. Is it complete incapacity or numbness? You may think it is an escape from pain, but standing outside of time carries the most severe kind of torment. You have no choice but to bear witness and watch it over and over again! It is our eternal curse.

Received an honorable mention at Counihan Summer show prize 2021

Winner of BSG Small Art Prize 2021.