What if the Raouche rock disappeared?

Nasser Soumi

In a performance which convinced and disturbed a lot of people on the Corniche, Nasser Soumi positions himself as an architect out to demolish Pigeon Rock and put up a hotel in its place. Soumi videotaped and photographed people’s reactions and displayed these near Riviera. Soumi reasons that given so much of Lebanon’s natural beauty has been ruthlessly ravaged by ugly new constructions, it is not unreasonable to expect that Pigeon Rock will eventually disappear as well.

Date: 1999
Location: Corniche El Manara
Medium: Performance, Installation
Material: N/A
Section: Contemporary
Duration: Temporary
Tags: Site-specific intervention
   
Framework: The Corniche Project
Authorizations: Municipality of Beirut
Commissioner: Ashkal Alwan