Caroline Williams and Reem Karssli’s Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is an interactive video installation exploring the role of screens in observing global conflict that will take place at Heads Up Festival at various times at Hull Central Library from March 28-30.
The show is a provocation against armchair passivity.
Artist Caroline Williams said: “The show is about that moment of sitting down, whether you hear it on the radio, see it on your computer or youtube, we are shown these quite crazy at times, horrific images of war. And the show is really asking us to sit in that space and remember that we’re human and say, hey, what if we actually knew someone who was going through this, what difference would that make? It’s asking for more than a piece of work that’s just by a refugee or just about war, it’s chiming with something much more human than that.”
Listen to Caroline Williams talking about Now Is The Time To Say Nothing here:
Using stunning video and immersive sound, it follows the real story of Syrian artist Reem Karssli as she captures her daily experience of the Syrian conflict on camera. We see what emerges when she is contacted by a group of teenagers from the UK who want to see beyond the footage they’ve watched on their TVs. Together they co-author an experience which attempts to connect a UK audience to the human story behind the news.
Created over four years, following Reem into an exile which forces her to leave her camera behind, Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is an intimate exploration of what it means to stay connected to each other and of what happens when war and the need for survival gets in the way.
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing heads to Heads Up Festival in Hull after performances at Bristol Old Vic and an acclaimed presentation at Mayfest 2018. It is on tour to Battersea Arts Centre’s eight Collaborative Touring Network festivals.
Produced by MAYK, Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is a collaboration between Syrian film-maker Reem Karssli, a group of young Londoners and artist Caroline Williams. Video design by May Abdalla and Christina Hardinge. Sound design by Keir Vine, Tom Parkinson and Lewis Gibson. Originally produced by the Young Vic’s Taking Part.