‘Zaher II - Premiere’

In 2017, Belgian curator and artist Pierre Muylle presented objects he had brought back from Hebron during his Co-laBo residence at ‘les ballets C de la B’. He chose objects, stories and experiences which he packed away and stacked in boxes. During the performance, the objects were revealed one by one, exposing themselves at their own pace and revealing their stories.
Zaher is the name of the popular game of backgammon or ‘trictrac’. Since the days of the Ottoman Empire, people have used the pretty old boxes to play in the streets and cafes of the Middle East, and to meet up and spend time together. For Pierre as well, Zaher was a good reason to meet people and hear their stories.
Having toured with this collection through Flanders and Palestine, the first part of Zaher has been told and the objects are back with their owners. Pierre Muylle has been working on a second show. Starting off from the same principles, he tried to fathom Hebron. The forming of the second Zaher was dependent on the objects, the people and the stories he encountered there. Now, Zaher goes on tour, arriving ultimately in the countries they came from, where the stories will be told to the people who told them or experienced them originally.