Bilnaes’s latest musical release, Only sounds that tremble through us is part of the ongoing project from Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth. The album Only sounds that tremble through us is a double LP. The first record features a full album of compositions by Abbas and Abou-Rahme, developed as part of the project between 2022 and 2024, while the second record is an album made up of commissioned compositions by Hiro Kone, Drew McDowall, Makimakkuk, Julmud, Haykal, SCRAAATCH, Muqata’a, Freddie June, and DJ Haram in conversation with the project.
The wider project begins with a collection of online recordings of unknown figures (mostly from Palestine, Iraq, and Syria) performing through song, music, and dance either in the intimacy of their homes, or on a street, in a square, at a wedding or on a beach having just found refuge. May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth examines the place and significance of voice in the form of song and oral poetry, and body in the form of dance and gesture as a political act of embodiment and becoming in a moment marked by various forms of violence against entire living fabrics. The project repositions these moments as a material witness inscribed through body, movement, rhythm, and voice to the destruction of everyday life that is occurring or has occurred. Equally, it is also one of the most critical ways in which these fractured communities are resisting their own erasure and laying claim to space, self, and community once more.
For the School for Temporary Liveness, Bilna’es will host a listening session to the two sides of the LP, with the presence of the contributing musicians DJ Haram, SCRAAATCH, Drew McDowall, Hiro Kone, Haykal, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, and interlocutor Fred Moten. The session will reflect on the politics of sound and the aesthetics of sampling and borrowing as materialized and conceptualized in the project, inviting participants to spend time in prolonged, collective study with the album, listening and reflecting with the artists who have had an extensive engagement with the wider project.
ACCESS NOTES:
Please note: This listening session may include loud sounds. Earplugs are available at the door. Entry: Late entry is permitted at any time dependent on capacity. There are stairs or ramp access to an open door marked with The Kitchen's name, behind which there is an elevator accessible to the public. The elevator enters directly into the loft. Duration: The program run-time is about two hours total. Audiences are welcome to come and go. Seating: This program is seated via foldable, cushioned chairs in the loft space, as well as intermittent seating via couches, gallery benches, and floor cushions. We are happy to accommodate and adjust for individuals who require wheelchair access upon request. Restrooms: Our restrooms are gender neutral. An ADA bathroom is available for our guest use in the courtyard, just one door down at Greenwich House Center for Older Adults. Please visit the facilities before entering the elevator to the loft. Exits: The space can be exited via elevator or stairs that take you to Bank street.
Photo: Courtesy of the artists.