٢٠٤٨ - تَحَلّلْ هَوِيَة
2048 - Identity in Dissolution
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A performance by alaa minawi
Concept
2048 - identity in dissolution is a project that researches invisibility and the power that lies within its parameters. It presents it as a “tool for existing” within, or better said away, from oppressive power structures. In the invisible place, a cosmos is being created. The question becomes who has access and who does not. In spite of that, the performance reasons the “want/need” to be invisible with the systematic oppressive behaviors against individuals and communities. 
Image from teaser video
Synopsis
On the day of the performance, alaa creates a Whatsapp group with the spectators attending added to it. He sends them the meeting point location. When they arrive, alaa informs them that he cannot be there in person and that they would continue the performance through Whatsapp. From there on, alaa guides, communicates, and interacts with the spectators through the different mediums of whatsapp. The spectators walk through the city then enter an empty house where they move from one room to the other while autobiographical experiences are being shared with them. The spectators are then asked to share personal experiences in return. 
Audience gathering in the meeting place and alaa communicates with them through Whatsapp
Story line
The performance takes the experience of alaa; the son of a Lebanese mother who, by Lebanese law, is not allowed to grant citizenship to him. In Lebanon only men have the right to give citizenship to their children. Alaa receives his father’s palestinian passport. A dual identity crisis arises, and a continuous inability to be part of Lebanon becomes prominent. The performance goes through the racist and discriminatory experiences that led alaa to eventually decide to be invisible. At some point, the spectators are led into their own personal experiences of hiding their identities. At the end of the performance alaa invites the spectators to the last room in the house, only to find themselves in an installation involving them. The multi-layered performance takes the personal to tackle the power of invisibility, the violence within discriminative nuances, versus the ease in opening up to people who do not know each other and build connections with them even if for the duration of the performance. 
Audience reading instructions sent by alaa through Whatsapp
Process
The performance takes place in a house. It is not Alaa’s house. Alaa is also a guest in it. The scenography does not interfere with the existing elements. It tries to navigate and find itself within it. Alaa adapts the hosting house to the script and the spectators’ experience. The process starts by visiting the designated host’s house a few days before the performance on a daily basis. then sensing the routine, energy, connections, and house rules of the space. Then adapts parts of the house’s elements in his performance.
Team
Maker: alaa minawi Assistant Director: Georges Abboud Second Assistant Director: Fatima Mroue Artistic Advisor: Petra Serhal Lights & Scenography: alaa minawi Text: alaa minawi English text Consultant: Marijn Lems Poster Designer: Georges Torbey Photographer Poster: Chiara Ferilli Food Stylist for Poster: Hisham Assad Video Documentation & Teaser Videos: Bachar Khattar Photographer: Chiara Ferilli PR Media & Communication in Lebanon: Monnot Theater Production Coordinator: Walid Saliba Assistant Production Brakke Grond: Christie Bitar Special thanks: Sanaa Al Yafi, Katerina Batawski, Rakan Mayassi, Marielelsie Youssef Ad, Nedjma Hadj Ben, Omar Daou, Cobie De Vos, Milone Reigman, Fine Line production, Joy Moughanni Sponsors Amsterdam Funds For the Arts (AFK) Supporters Monnot Theater, Bayt Em Nazih, T- marbouta Art Residencies in the research phase (2020 - 2022) Het Huis Utrecht , Hemmana House for Artists (Sponsored by Cultural Resource), Halaqat, Fanak Fund Performed at:
Beirut - Lebanon January February 2023 Beyond the black box festival - Brakke Grond Amsterdam - February 2023 Spring Utrecht Festival - Utrecht Netherlands - May 2023 Photos
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