#rami farah

[ddzzaaii]

Silence dir. Rami Farah

[syrianmemorycollective]

“War” is an excerpt from “not a matter of if but a matter when: brief records of a time in which expectations were repeatedly raised and lowered and people grew exhausted from never knowing if the moment if the moment was at hand or still to come,” an art projected developed in 2005 - 2006 in Damascus, Syria. 

Between 2005 and 2006 Rami Farah was asked record short sequences in which he responded to a prompt or a written text. Through a combination of direct address and fantastical narrative, Rami’s improvisations speak to living in a condition of uncertainty, chaos and stasis.

Through asking him to record his reactions to mundane words like “dawn” “village” “house” and “bird” as well as more provocative ones such as “freedom” “war” and “resignation”, the artists attempt to find meaning in a time and place where the official vocabulary has been abused by the government and no words exist to describe them beyond this scope. Rami’s seemingly mundane improvisations reveal the reality of the Syrian political condition, managing to articulate a rhetoric of fear and pending doom, while simultaneously expressing cautious hope. Though the close-up and portrait framing seems deceivingly simple, it emphasizes how the actor’s body flips roles from body politic to citizen body, and eventually shows that boundaries are blurry, unfixed and capricious. 

2005 - 2006 marked officially, the end of the “Damascus Spring” when following the death of Hafez al-Assad a period of intense political and social debate began in hopes of pushing reform. Many activists, writers, intellectuals, and important figures met at salons held at homes to debate various issues that had previously been considered taboo. During that period, several statements were released by different figures in Syrian society, intellectuals, activists, authors, filmmakers, civil society leaders, and religious figures calling for the end of the state of emergency, abolition of martial law and special courts, the release of all political prisoners, the return without fear for all political exiles, the right to form political parties and civil organizations, and the political demand that Article 8 of the Syrian constitution, which provides that the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party leads the state and society, be repealed (x and x) and a call to ending the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. The initial optimism and energy for social reform slowly diminished after some overtures towards reform by the government were made, with eight activists and participants of the salons were arrested and sentenced to jail time between 2 - 10 years. 

However, after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri, the Syrian government was pressured to withdraw from Lebanon, ending the 30-year occupation. After that, the “Cedar Revolution” happened, Hezbollah fought with Israel, Iraq held elections and began a descent into civil war, leaving the region a little bit more shaky that it had been previously. For Syrians, with a relatively new president, this sparked anxiety and anticipation, wondering when it would be ‘their’ turn, so to speak. Each of these events had a significant impact on Syrians and how they viewed themselves, their government, and their past.

Although on the surface, Syria seemed stable many including intellectual Sadiq Jalal al-Azem, noted that widespread anxiety was bubbling beneath the surface and many thought that change was upon them, and would show itself in an explosion. 

Though recorded 6 years prior to the start of the Syrian uprising, Rami Farah’s 3:49 video discussing his associations with “War” seem to predict the explosion in March 2011 and aftermath that followed. Using the body as metaphor, he imagines a violent social change that has for all intents and purposes become reality.

For a recent interview with Rami Farah, see here.

To see more videos in the “not a matter of if but a matter of when” series, seehere.