This piece is a video, sound and performance installation. The piece is based on the classic structure of a concerto, and therefore has three chapters – Allegro, Andante and Allegretto. Every chapter has its own rules, characteristics and length. The piece is based on the mythical image of Ishmael, as an allegorical representation of the main subject of my work which is Curse-Blessing. The narrative axis of the piece is built into a poem I have written about Ishmael's torn image, which my father, Sasson Hai, reads in both Hebrew and in Jewish-Iraqi Arabic. The installation includes two video pieces that simultaneously play on large screens – these include the visual narrative layout. These two video pieces are made mostly of found footage and are simultaneously weaved into a harmonic and dis-harmonic story. On the third screen, the viola player Galia Hai appears as the soloist. On either side of her, there is an old television screen that sits on the floor and translates the entire sound array into visual sound waves, exposing a new video. The three screens together make up a triptych. The piece was shown in two modes: one is an active performance in which I play the sound tracks and the images live, while Galia plays the viola, and we play off of each other to create a dialogue. The second mode is passive, in which all screens are playing in sync, the set is prerecorded and the entire piece repeatedly plays in a loop.

Soloists:
Galia Hai – viola
Sasson Hai – reading

Lyrics: Daniella Hai