‘A perfectly safe hide-out’ is a collaboration between visual artist Mari Meen Halsøy and coreographers/dance artists Siljeholm/Christophersen. We were invited to create a site-specific performance for the Beirut Street Festival 2011 in Lebanon. Combining dance, visual art and music, the project sets out to explore common perception of our surroundings linked to the location in which we are.
The Barakat House is a 1924 masterpiece. It used to house upper middleclass families until the outbreak of the civil war in 1975, when it became a vantage point for snipers due to its strategic location on the dividing ʻGreen Lineʼ. This is the first and last performance being staged in the building, which is scheduled for restoration to accommodate the ʼMuseum of Memoryʼ, tracing the 7000-year history of the city of Beirut.
Mari Meen Halsøy: Concept and visual art
Sara Christophersen & Helle Siljeholm: Concept, choreography and dance
Co-creating dancers: Martin Lervik & Katharina Eriksson
Music: Mathias Eick
Supported by: Municipality of Beirut, The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beirut, Zico House, FFUK, UD/DTS, OCA and Umam Documentation & Research.
Premiere: Oct 1st 2011, Barakat House/Beit Beirut
