Rihla

Two channel video installation / 14:29 min

*RIHLA Video 1 + 2 should be played simultaneously.

I produced the video “Rihla” in 2010, which focuses on my home in Baghdad, abandoned by us and therefore occupied by strangers. By being analytical towards my socio-political history, the video shows the intersection between displaced people, locations, the abandoned homes they move in-between, and the traces they leave behind. Ultimately, I am questioning whether a “home”, which has been abandoned by its owner, lack any signs of life? Does it belong to every person who occupied it? Or is it now the assets of the anonymous? In the words of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: “Houses die when their inhabitants are gone…” Or perhaps the house has its own life after all?

CREDITS: This video was filmed by Sawsan Alsaraf in Jordan and Lebanon, Taghlib Alwaily in Baghdad, Merwan Hamdan in Lebanon, and Hassan "The Guard" in Baghdad. Editing by Merwan Hamdan with direction from Sawsan Alsaraf. Sound design by Merwan Hamdan and Sawsan Alsaraf. Sound mixing by Raed Younan. Supervised by Artist-Teacher Ghassan Salhab.