Imploded, burnt, turned to ash

A film screening of a drawing and sound performance by artist Issam Kourbaj in collaboration with composer Richard Causton and soprano Jessica Summers, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Syrian uprising.
The performance begins with Kourbaj drawing fragments of Arabic words and eye idols on a large surface in layers, repeating and obscuring them. The words are inspired by the teenage graffiti that sparked the Syrian uprising in March 2011, and the eye idols are based on three Syrian eye idols from The Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection.
The final drawing is then burnt, with the ash being placed in a glass box as a memorial to victims of the ongoing crisis.