Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Year: 2018
Produced by: Young Vic Taking Part; Mayfest; Arnolfini; touring venues
Creative Team: Created by Caroline Mary Williams and Reem Karssli
Synopsis: Now Is the Time to Say Nothing is an interactive video and sound installation made by Caroline Williams with Syrian artist Reem Karssli. Audience members sit in arm chairs and put on headphones to immerse themselves in the video and sound installation of Karssli’s daily experience of the Syrian conflict. Using real on the ground footage and Karssli reports her experience in a remote exchange with teenagers in the UK. Directly challenging armchair passivity, the piece examines the conditions that precede exile and interrogates the ethics of witnessing conflict from a distance. The piece invites the audience to take part in the instillation, emphasising the importance of connection and the stark brutalities of war. It asks how the act of watching can become an act of care, indifference or consumption as the context surrounding displacement is continually changing.
Source: Caroline Mary Williams, Portfolio entry of Now is the Time to Say Nothing: https://www.carolinemarywilliams.com/work/now-is-the-time-to-say-nothing/ Sleepdogs, Review of Now Is the Time to Say Nothing by Tim: https://sleepdogs.org/2018/05/review-now-is-the-time-to-say-nothing/ Meer, Review of Now Is the Time to Say Nothing at the Battersea Arts Centre: https://www.meer.com/en/57897-now-is-time-to-say-nothing