together we walk
Together We Walk takes you on a journey shaped from visual portrayals of human landscapes.
This multi-layered installation of movement, light, and sound invites you to walk alongside and among the Lebanese people —near and far—as they engage in physical dialogue stretched across time and space.
Together We Walk is an immersive installation composed of digital monoliths, representing fragments of our existence as Lebanese people... A people navigating the ambiguity of contemporary history as others are across the globe.
Situated in the locations of grief, resiliency and hope, Together We Walk brings the audience in direct contact with Lebanese society as they cope with the reality of a financial, sociopolitical and environmental crisis.
Seven performers locomote within and between the monoliths in moments of absurdity and physical comedy, all of which lend themselves to a non-linear storyline. This experience invites the audience to assemble personal understandings of and relationships to their own existence, depending on which pathways they choose to walk the installation.
Together We Walk pulses with an intimate energy of grit, while constantly bringing up questions of the self, community, and co-existence that are universal to all.
digital installation / premiered at Dubai Expo 2020
Dubai Art Week - Lebanon Pavilion - 11,12,13 March 2022 | 10:00 till 22:00 - EXTENDED till end of March
collaborators & partners
Directed & Produced by Yaraqa
Choreographer: Caroline Hatem
Director of Photography: Richard Ballan
Focus Puller: Pauline Maroun
Editors: Angela Dabbak & Paul Haddad
Colorist: Hisham Ramadan
Soundtrack by: Kinda Hassan
Oud Performer: Youmna Saba
Styling: Mahmoud El Safi
Make-up artist: Saide Tanoury & Hind Bassil
Camera & Lighting Equipment: Final Cut
Thanks to the support of: Tournesol Theatre
Special thanks to: Joelle Hajjar - Curator & Commissioner for the Lebanese Pavilion at Expo 2020
Yaraqa Team:
Director: Romy Assouad | Executive Producer: Celine Sursock | Product design lead & co-choreographer: Jadd Tank | Production Assistant: Raymonda Emanuel Chamoun | Communication Lead: Krystelle Karam | Marketing Lead: Pia Bou Khater
adaptation / installation + live performance
Inauguration of British Council Lebanon and Syria’s new offices | Beirut Digital District | 14 June 2023
Adapted as a hybrid installation with 2 of the performers from the original Together We Walk cast, performing live and interacting with the digital installation. One year later, 2 Lebanese people came face to face with themselves & each other:
As time passes by, where do we stand as people in relation to the fragmented existence our contemporary times are asking of us? Are the circumstances the same for those here and afar? This hybrid experience renders Together We Walk extremely intimate, taking further advantage of all possibilities of engagement and personalization.
As audience members witness those dialogues unfold in front of them, they are invited to assemble their own personal understandings of and relationships to their own existence as witnessed by these performers in dialogue.
collaborators & partners for this adaptation
Created & produced by Yaraqa
Choreographer & artistic director: Caroline Hatem
Technical director & Editor: James Chehab
Live performers: Alice Massabki, Lisette Chehade
A by-product of the digital installation: a live 20 minute performance in interaction with the digital installation (two wide screens showcasing curated moments of Together We Walk Dubai)