For Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 2021, Heya Collective asynchronously produced an audio-visual piece that raises questions about class, gender and colonialism and how they relate to the climate crisis.

Composed of voice, cello, sonic interventions, field recordings and mobile phone video footage from Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul and Hastings, 'Blue Spaces' is a stereo soundscape with an ethereal, fluid feel – existing in stark contrast to the realities of class, gender and the political and climate based traumas of the Middle East.

The climate crisis that the world now faces is largely down to industry and consumerism that is rooted in the Western world, yet a lack of responsibility for these realities still endures. The impact that this activity is now having across the Middle East falls mainly on the shoulders of women and the working class – themes that will be reflected in the sounds and visual work of 'Blue Spaces'.

Due to ongoing restrictions, the work was live streamed as part of the festival, followed by a live panel discussion.

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In November 2022 Blue Spaces had its first in-person installation at the Beirut Arts Centre, Lebanon as part of a group show called 'Maintain'.

Description from BAC of the exhibition:

The curator is usually seen as a solitary figure that yields substantial power in the art world. But far from the associations the term might conjure in the context of contemporary art today, the curator was originally a custodian, who cared for a collection, cured and preserved its narratives, and restored the voices within it back to health. With this in mind, we wonder if one could curate (in) Beirut, and whether the act of curating might still hold within it the infinitesimal ability to heal.
We know that there can be no healing alone, that it can only be achieved collectively, like justice, like freedom. Yet, the need to survive doesn’t always bring out the most noble version of ourselves, and we are not always ready to come together at the times when doing so is most urgently needed.
We have invited 4 collectives to reflect on their experiences and practices, their legacies and histories. The participating collectives are 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗛𝗲𝘆𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗤𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀 and Yalla Bala Manyake. We think of the resulting exhibition as a reflection on the challenges of collectivity, as well as the terms and conditions along which collectivities might be formed.

Blue Space by Heya Collective

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival promotion for the event

Beirut Arts Centre promotion for the 'Maintain' Exhibition

Installation of 'Blue Spaces' at Beirut Art Centre, Nov 2022

Audience watching 'Blue Spaces' during exhibition opening, at Beirut Art Centre, Nov 2022