An old map of the Arab world shows border-crossing train tracks spanning the region. The old Hijaz Railway, which connected Damascus to Medina, once transported Muslim pilgrims through what is today Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia without the need for visas. Today, the non-operational Lebanese Railway appears as a rupture. We decided to take a journey along the abandoned train tracks of Lebanon. Our starting point was a derelict station in Beirut, and continued as each one of us set off on a different trip following one of the three train tracks. Our travels revealed past and present uses of these tracks and the stations that dotted them. Some were abandoned. Others were turned into makeshift housing. Some had the markings of being converted into military bases and torture chambers.
The research booklet for Nothing to Declare is available in a PDF version. It can be downloaded here.(Arabic version here)
Video installation sound developed in collaboration with Ahmad Khouja and Khairy Eibesh. Developed in part at the Watermill Center (a laboratory for performance) in collaboration with ArtEast, New York. Production Grants from AFAC (lecture performance), and British Council (video and publication)
Site: Will Brady