Perfor­mance: STONES GODS PEOPLE
notes for an opera

SALT Galata, Workshop IV

STONES GODS PEOPLE is based on a performance that was intended to take place in the Garden of Forgiveness in Beirut - an archaeological park that is currently a frozen space, unable to be accessed because of political entanglement surrounding the land. There are many such places in Beirut, and other cities - situations symptomatic to contexts where heavy neoliberal development and corruption are rife.

The opera is a rumination on these frozen spaces, ruins and our connection to archaeological and historical sites, as mirrored by the failed process to realize the original performance in Beirut. The event at SALT Galata is the first exposure of a perpetual work in progress.

Co-produced with Mophradat (formerly the Young Arab Theatre Fund) in parallel to its annual Informal Meeting, which gathers artists and art practitioners from the Arab World for a topical discussion, taking place this year on Büyükada Island, Istanbul.

The performance will be held in English.


Joe Namy is a composer and media artist based in Beirut. His projects often address aspects of identity, memory, power, and currents encoded in organized sound. He was a participant in the Ashkal Alwan Home Workspace independent study program and received a MFA from New York University, as well as having studied Jazz, Arabic, and Heavy Metal drumming. Some of his projects fall under the sound art platform titled Electric Kahraba, which operates as an experimental radio program on clocktower.org.