Santiago Sierra's 48-Hour Performance Reads Syrian War Victims' Names Across Four Cities

Santiago Sierra will present a continuous performance titled The Names of Those Killed in the Syrian Conflict, spanning from March 15, 2011, to December 31, 2016, across four cities on three continents over eight days. This project draws from research conducted by the Grupo de Investigación sobre el Conflicto en Siria (GICS), headed by Pedro Brieger, a Sociology professor at the University of Buenos Aires, who gathered the names of all individuals who lost their lives since the onset of the conflict. Sixteen Arabic-speaking performers will read the names non-stop for 48 hours at each location. The performance kicks off at the Center of Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv on May 21, followed by Wiener Festwochen in Vienna (May 23–25), Lisson Gallery in London (May 25–27), and wraps up at the Biennale della Performance in Buenos Aires on May 29. Attendees can join in person or watch live via the artist's website. Sierra has previously conducted similar performances: in 2004, Arabic-speaking immigrants in Spain recited an Israeli phone directory for 120 hours; in 2016, two Arabs in Madrid read names of those who died during Israel's Gaza offensive (July 8–August 26, 2014). His 1999 piece, 250 cm Line Tattooed on Six Paid People, involved paying six young Cubans $30 each to be tattooed with a continuous line on their backs, critiquing capitalist exploitation.