Samir Kassir Square – Downtown Beirut – May 4, 8:00 PM

When people are forced to leave their cities, they do not only leave their homes, belongings, schools, favorite toys, and friends and neighbors behind… They actually leave their skin organs and their memories. They transform into outlines of a radiating light. They walk, whispering one thing: “My light is your light…”

Alaa Minawi’s latest light installation has been premiered at the third edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival in November 2014. The installation entitled “My light it your light” is one of 30 different installations that have been selected out of over 360 concepts presented by artists from around the world.

“My light is your light” is a tribute to the Syrian refugees who have been going through extremely painful humanitarian conditions. It is also a tribute to all refugees in the last 100 years, who transform into a radiating outline of a human once they are forced out from home, for their story craves to shine on throughout the world.

This idea has been presented in the form of a light installation with six human-scale statues created in outlines from custom-made neon lights. The six figures represent a family made of a father, a mother, a grandfather, an aunt and two children. A family that has been walking for years and it seems as though the youngest of all has found something interesting. It is an installation that reflects both harshness and aspects of hope. These six figures will find themselves crossing paths with passers-by in Beirut, from May 4 to June 4.