https://betinaabihabib.com BetinaAbiHabib Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:35 +0000 https://betinaabihabib.com en https://betinaabihabib.com/02 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:35 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/02 <img width="3555" height="2050" width_o="3555" height_o="2050" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83512b66fe1dcc6a54da8c0e5581d8fafe4ba52479b6b5d9437adf0b7d76162d/StoryboardZoom.jpg" data-mid="96823513" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/83512b66fe1dcc6a54da8c0e5581d8fafe4ba52479b6b5d9437adf0b7d76162d/StoryboardZoom.jpg" /> Baalat and her Double- Zoom Adaptation (2020) Script: Bétina Abi Habib Collaborators: Bétina Abi Habib, Per Vissers, and Elsa Van Der Linden. Location: Het Huis Utrecht Duration: 20 minutes. Full text in LINK Baalat and her Double is a Lecture Performance in three Acts written and directed by Bétina Abi Habib in 2020. It presents the fictional influence of Baalat Gebal, goddess of Byblos, on the work of playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht. <img width="766" height="968" width_o="766" height_o="968" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/41f942a3fb8d316f7bcee58f2a9660166e483df8153e5a36760417e7facac565/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-01-at-08.43.47.jpeg" data-mid="96823532" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/766/i/41f942a3fb8d316f7bcee58f2a9660166e483df8153e5a36760417e7facac565/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-01-at-08.43.47.jpeg" /> <img width="1186" height="1638" width_o="1186" height_o="1638" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/92c47607127c4fb4395172cf33b1be127783bf92922276feecb04c1074db9103/Photo-cover.png" data-mid="96823763" border="0" data-scale="92" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/92c47607127c4fb4395172cf33b1be127783bf92922276feecb04c1074db9103/Photo-cover.png" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/03 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:33 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/03 <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/51e5015fddd25ef6fc0601987c285bfefb9d350c2eff99b0693f505c60475630/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.37.42-AM.png" data-mid="96829825" border="0" data-scale="99" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/51e5015fddd25ef6fc0601987c285bfefb9d350c2eff99b0693f505c60475630/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.37.42-AM.png" /> The mask as a quote (2019) Location: Pastoe Fabriek Utrecht Duration: 20 minutes To quote Walter Benjamin in his writings on Epic Theatre in Understanding Brecht: Epic theatre does not reproduce situations, but rather reveals them. Epic theatre, which depends on interruption, is quotable in a very specific sense. The gestures used in the process of acting [must become] quotable. I chose then, to quote my face, to interrupt its action by making a cast of it. The outcome is the extraction of a specific facial gesture. The mask, silicone and detailed replica of my face presents myself to myself at a distance. Here, above me, hangs a frozen moment in time of my physical features. <img width="2740" height="1622" width_o="2740" height_o="1622" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/faa47d3c3384db9a8bea80ef50445dd1a1ed6837a90c927d59c13b32c7b0cb4d/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.37.51-AM.png" data-mid="96829660" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/faa47d3c3384db9a8bea80ef50445dd1a1ed6837a90c927d59c13b32c7b0cb4d/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.37.51-AM.png" /> <img width="2540" height="1555" width_o="2540" height_o="1555" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2b9cc4400f9811059c1c13dc009318e4aeaa0936ae683e3b1bd46a991b8a354e/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.39.56-AM.png" data-mid="96830203" border="0" data-scale="97" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2b9cc4400f9811059c1c13dc009318e4aeaa0936ae683e3b1bd46a991b8a354e/Screen-Shot-2020-02-29-at-9.39.56-AM.png" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/04 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:31 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/04 <img width="2384" height="1635" width_o="2384" height_o="1635" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4c45dea4d9516fe155bea8365832bae641fbfc31ccffc333e2fffa4a139e58d4/Screen-Shot-2020-06-04-at-3.06.45-PM.png" data-mid="96832218" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4c45dea4d9516fe155bea8365832bae641fbfc31ccffc333e2fffa4a139e58d4/Screen-Shot-2020-06-04-at-3.06.45-PM.png" /> Paravent Mouvant (2020) Performative installation. Location: The performer’s neighbourhood. The Paravent or folding screen is an object behind which people find privacy and confinement. It can help to be sheltered from a light wind or from an external gaze. I build a paravent for myself and carry it with me to several public locations where I can be watched hiding.&nbsp; <img width="1740" height="1112" width_o="1740" height_o="1112" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ee77a6ed47ca710aa359aa1012541b9368fb6ca17b31ca98881e07e0e74efb1/IMG_3626.PNG" data-mid="227126743" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ee77a6ed47ca710aa359aa1012541b9368fb6ca17b31ca98881e07e0e74efb1/IMG_3626.PNG" /> <img width="2398" height="1800" width_o="2398" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77953466d5bbb02cdbe987fd2fe75fa3c754ce6885dde158f72b490d02640d43/Screen-Shot-2020-06-04-at-3.05.10-PM.png" data-mid="96831544" border="0" data-scale="97" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/77953466d5bbb02cdbe987fd2fe75fa3c754ce6885dde158f72b490d02640d43/Screen-Shot-2020-06-04-at-3.05.10-PM.png" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/05 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:28 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/05 <img width="2860" height="1572" width_o="2860" height_o="1572" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bcf6f85f366a01a149e31699e5ea85727d3403b3af4a470780f6e2e4415b659e/B3.png" data-mid="99029708" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bcf6f85f366a01a149e31699e5ea85727d3403b3af4a470780f6e2e4415b659e/B3.png" /> Placing the Armpit (2019) Lecture Performance Written and presented by Betina Abi Habib Location: Pastoe Fabriek Utrecht Duration: 40 minutes “Removing the armpit hair is not a functional way of shaping my armpit. It is a political social performance of my body, of my identity. This place has been performed, so regularly and so consistently that it has become unquestionable for some. This is why I bring it back to myself and to others as a performance.” <img width="2784" height="1618" width_o="2784" height_o="1618" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f160f9625196f078d666d02c797534cbb33a6e8e319af84af3a1da7e2a68c72/B1.png" data-mid="97459302" border="0" data-scale="96" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f160f9625196f078d666d02c797534cbb33a6e8e319af84af3a1da7e2a68c72/B1.png" /> <img width="2876" height="1590" width_o="2876" height_o="1590" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2b69f43e52897f1f70fa47b35eb23f94ed2bd7a4f9676010dcb0d3fa7669fae2/B4.png" data-mid="97458998" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2b69f43e52897f1f70fa47b35eb23f94ed2bd7a4f9676010dcb0d3fa7669fae2/B4.png" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/06 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:26 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/06 <img width="3024" height="3488" width_o="3024" height_o="3488" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9ad45a023f091d5fb70f9a4267527c6ebcb1b2ea9f203e68d99f524122f4c00/IMG-0960.JPG" data-mid="99034785" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9ad45a023f091d5fb70f9a4267527c6ebcb1b2ea9f203e68d99f524122f4c00/IMG-0960.JPG" /> Stenographic Response (2018) Performative Installation Video source:&nbsp; A Natural History of the Studio &nbsp;by William Kentridge&nbsp; Duration: Ongoing In 2012 William Kentridge gives a lecture at Tel Aviv University as a Dan David Prize Laureate. His talk is entitled "A Natural History of the Studio", an important theorization of artistic work in the studio. Taking the role of a biased stenographer, working behind the paravent on which the lecture is projected, I selectively take note of the words used by Kentridge as he describes the artistic process. The text I hit on the typewriter is a live textual record of his speech. This list of words annotated are then rewritten in a paragraph, forming a new discourse entitled “Confession to Palestine”.&nbsp; The annotated words and reconfigured speech are distributed to the audience at the end of each lecture- video loop.&nbsp; Words annotated from speech:Life-Tricks-Protected space-Construction of meaning-Development of thought-Tel Aviv-Designed-Allied-Reduced-Doing your thinking for you-Put on hold-Circling-Avoiding the issue-Avoiding the confrontation-Console myself-Given a chance-Structure-Shooting-Images start to emerge-Separated space-Outside world-Hitting the walls-Demonstration-South Africa and Israel-Reconstituted-Bombarded-News-Dismembered-Reconstructed-Deconstruction-Reconsidering-Contradictions-Ways of seeing-Unconscious prehistory-Instruct-Pretense of certainty-Open ended-ness. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aaf1addcb8f2eb4d3bb719e8bfd1600b997e5bc111bbf6b303caf16d0359e1e6/IMG-0961.JPG" data-mid="99034795" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aaf1addcb8f2eb4d3bb719e8bfd1600b997e5bc111bbf6b303caf16d0359e1e6/IMG-0961.JPG" /> <img width="824" height="930" width_o="824" height_o="930" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/388341c4654b09acddd3a1519dfda1ad15dbd532566a72b98c57c033fd59f852/Screen-Shot-2021-02-16-at-11.43.51-AM.png" data-mid="99037246" border="0" data-scale="72" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/824/i/388341c4654b09acddd3a1519dfda1ad15dbd532566a72b98c57c033fd59f852/Screen-Shot-2021-02-16-at-11.43.51-AM.png" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/08 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:21 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/08 <img width="5104" height="3402" width_o="5104" height_o="3402" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d19b4586da369fd390111f0c1ac217d981fa1233cd35df01da8c2360cfcecd46/IMG_6442.jpg" data-mid="99050511" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d19b4586da369fd390111f0c1ac217d981fa1233cd35df01da8c2360cfcecd46/IMG_6442.jpg" /> Artist Residing (2018) Photography. Location: De GelderlandFabriek, Culemborg. Artists occupy industrial space in a growing trend across the world. What is the relationship between the artist’s work and the industrial space in which it is produced and exhibited? What becomes of the industrial work? In De GelderlandFabriek in Culemborg, I take the role of an artist showing her work in the industrial environment transformed into exhibition space. I suggest having explored domesticity in industrial space during a six month performance whereby the public was invited to watch me live in a space of production. The exhibition presents my self documentation of this performance. <img width="3088" height="2320" width_o="3088" height_o="2320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6cd4620f5814e8d60144a5ebfe60c94f8e28474d80bcdecb6a71102d096247c4/IMG-1546.JPG" data-mid="99052065" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6cd4620f5814e8d60144a5ebfe60c94f8e28474d80bcdecb6a71102d096247c4/IMG-1546.JPG" /> <img width="4015" height="2784" width_o="4015" height_o="2784" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/047c94e00835b06d3024961cec5b9fb54187422250c280f23991af7cd77a0bf8/IMG-1771.JPG" data-mid="99052100" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/047c94e00835b06d3024961cec5b9fb54187422250c280f23991af7cd77a0bf8/IMG-1771.JPG" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/09 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:19 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/09 <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69f47aa7d37940c7ce942fc5756776787d60b815bb8456d4e4235c0d59c23996/IMG_0070.JPG" data-mid="99052565" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/69f47aa7d37940c7ce942fc5756776787d60b815bb8456d4e4235c0d59c23996/IMG_0070.JPG" /> PlayBooth (2019) Participant: Sofia AnathasouliaText: Betina Abi Habib Duration: 30 minutes How often do we strip our surrounding from its political significance? The aim of this work is to recognize how indices of oppression are embedded in our daily experience, in the most playful and seemingly harmless of objects. After posing with the theatrical props offered to them, the participants leave the photography room and enter the screening room where they are given the time to look at the photos as spectators and listen to revealing stories of the objects they were posing with: The vest: On king’s day he could finally get to wear the orange vest. Of all the colorful clothes his wife had taken out of his closet and to throw out, he had managed to keep this one. It was okay to wear it on King’s day. The red beret: She wore a red beret to school. It was in line with her leftist aesthetics. But as she walked back home, she would take it off and slip it in her backpack. She knew her neighborhood would find it ridiculous. The glasses: He would push up his glasses when they slid down on his nose. Then, remembering his own father’s similar gesture he would slide the temples further back behind his ears. <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed3216c848079ebf8361483fcbc19b8b0cae0f0ca8f0453c776baf6154f41789/IMG_0068.JPG" data-mid="99052665" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed3216c848079ebf8361483fcbc19b8b0cae0f0ca8f0453c776baf6154f41789/IMG_0068.JPG" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe8490f5bf341c26d6113e1d7595d70a06462417969ee815a20a37b3fcb437d2/IMG_0074.JPG" data-mid="99052658" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fe8490f5bf341c26d6113e1d7595d70a06462417969ee815a20a37b3fcb437d2/IMG_0074.JPG" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/10 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:16 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/10 <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1f7f06e09df92c491e37e23667c5c5734f4feb9bd795efd8439a010325cffa63/IMG_8919.JPG" data-mid="99054425" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1f7f06e09df92c491e37e23667c5c5734f4feb9bd795efd8439a010325cffa63/IMG_8919.JPG" /> Lecture performance: Forest Walk Photography slideshow, storytelling. Location: MA Scenography studio space. Duration: 20 minutes. Script: From time to time, when I feel a bit overwhelmed or just numb, I go for a long walk. Often, I go to what my housemates and I refer to as ‘the forest’. In reality it is more like a park,&nbsp;or an old sovereign nobility land that is now shared with the public, and intentionally overgrown with plants and trees. Last week, Henny told me about ‘elephant paths’. They are paths that are formed in space by people making their own paths. These are unofficial routes. But in this sovereign land, there are no true elephant paths. There are old alleys landscaped and designed to frame the nobility mansions.&nbsp;Today they are also elegantly blocked by tree trunks elegantly placed as if they have fallen, to tell us not to venture into the wilderness. Keep walking on the imported grey sand and gravel.&nbsp;If you do venture into these informal overgrown areas, you will encounter the stinging nettles.&nbsp;But isn’t it always the risk of performing the forbidden? Obstacles will sting you. In the forbidden areas, or in those least inviting, wild berries grow. Berries are energizing.&nbsp;They help in overcoming the obstacles.&nbsp;In the ‘forest’, there unhealthy plants are rarely kept, but often there are beautiful still waters.&nbsp; Stable water.&nbsp;So stable and unchanging that it is out of order, inaccessible. The stability of these waters, I would like to disturb. They must be jumped in and splatter everywhere.&nbsp;Next time I go for a walk I will ask you to join. Together we will jump in the still waters, cover ourselves with slime, and walk back home through the real elephant path behind the highway.&nbsp;Perhaps even at night. <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/905d362b334933fca309de9ebf4a4cbe8e2aad518a039d9042eba9844eaf8599/IMG_8905.JPG" data-mid="106821336" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/905d362b334933fca309de9ebf4a4cbe8e2aad518a039d9042eba9844eaf8599/IMG_8905.JPG" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2bc7fa01be9a67c52c9953b87c5c30dd516992b56ed87af05486bee0ea91170/IMG_8909.JPG" data-mid="99054579" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2bc7fa01be9a67c52c9953b87c5c30dd516992b56ed87af05486bee0ea91170/IMG_8909.JPG" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/11 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:07 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/11 <img width="1599" height="1200" width_o="1599" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c2b6fdccc971f8c2876c823cb0dc297091a5f2c960a21da099a3310ace431a9/Bridge5.png" data-mid="99067052" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c2b6fdccc971f8c2876c823cb0dc297091a5f2c960a21da099a3310ace431a9/Bridge5.png" /> Phèdre under the bridge (2019) Performative intervention. Location: Utrecht Lunetten, Brennerberg. Duration: 15 minutes Why does a lebanese teenager know by heart the monologue of a French Classical Tragedy?&nbsp; Here is an attempt at revealing the absurdity of litterary heritage under colonialism by re-reciting what has been memorized by heart. Large format English translations of the recited french text are simultaneously flipped by the performer.&nbsp; PHÈDRE Mon mal vient de plus loin. A peine au fils d'Egée Sous ses lois de l'hymen je m'étais engagée Mon repos, mon bonheur semblait être affermi ; Athènes me montra mon superbe ennemi : Je le vis, je rougis, je pâlis à sa vue ; Un trouble s'éleva dans mon âme éperdue ; Mes yeux ne voyaient plus, je ne pouvais parler; Je sentis tout mon corps et transir et brûler; Je reconnus Vénus et ses feux redoutables, D'un sang qu'elle poursuit, tourments inévitables. <img width="1599" height="1200" width_o="1599" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2bae5772c45925f3b264adcc158b649175f133d05624f24b7e7ad6e6a60af9f2/Bridge6-copy.png" data-mid="99067019" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2bae5772c45925f3b264adcc158b649175f133d05624f24b7e7ad6e6a60af9f2/Bridge6-copy.png" /> <img width="1599" height="1200" width_o="1599" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/085fcaa2f29682e20a8664cb01add6409f572796c377d43dd7e426ba4bd7a4e5/Bridge7.jpeg" data-mid="99067230" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/085fcaa2f29682e20a8664cb01add6409f572796c377d43dd7e426ba4bd7a4e5/Bridge7.jpeg" /> https://betinaabihabib.com/12 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:28:13 +0000 BetinaAbiHabib https://betinaabihabib.com/12 <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/78931a3e1ffc44e146913baa2716d200a2d884b70055fa6d549a1c218780fdd5/20190111_154921.jpg" data-mid="99069831" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/78931a3e1ffc44e146913baa2716d200a2d884b70055fa6d549a1c218780fdd5/20190111_154921.jpg" /> The Black Box (2018) Participatory Installation.Collaborator: Safa Kamdideh Location: Janskerkhof theatrezaal HKU Duration: 15 minutes They lay on cheeks, on chests, in between fingers and thighs. These bodies are extensions of our own. Our bodies long to them, we reach out to them constantly, unwillingly, unaware. They are in and outside of us, exist with and without us. The care, attention and time we give them can exceed their use-value. They tell the stories we want to listen to. The tension between our bodies and theirs is material, social, emotional, political, theatrical. The digital sphere frames the non-digital as ‘real’, making it rigid, undoubted, unchallenged, frozen, unshaken. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc7f98b06d5de044eb1cc860153c7e9f536314614388cd67aafeccc4bda31620/20190111_154814.jpg" data-mid="99069996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc7f98b06d5de044eb1cc860153c7e9f536314614388cd67aafeccc4bda31620/20190111_154814.jpg" /> <img width="1960" height="1489" width_o="1960" height_o="1489" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7cfe1cbd4878cd15a23c744205eaa7c8f59f75232ebdb42bda772affc3f9fefe/20190111_154814-copy.jpg" data-mid="99070713" border="0" data-scale="99" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7cfe1cbd4878cd15a23c744205eaa7c8f59f75232ebdb42bda772affc3f9fefe/20190111_154814-copy.jpg" />