Yara Asmar (LB, 1996)
Period of residency: June-July 2024
During my residency at La Becque as part of a partnership with the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia I recorded hours and hours of music while Bubun (the cat of the residency) kept me company. I also went out to make some field recordings of the nature around the residency and beyond, of cows, mountains, mechanical music instruments at the Seewen Museum of Music Automatons, the wind, and the lake and bells and bells and bells. I also performed in a few places, one of them being La Becque alongside the electronic music duo Matmos, whose work I really love. I also used my time at the residency to read, learn, meet fascinating people and watch their process unfurl. — Yara Asmar
Yara Asmar is a Lebanese musician, video artist, and puppeteer who lives and works in Beirut. In her practice, she recomposes and diverts childish symbols to create universes that are both dark and poetic – the antithesis of the naïve positivism that encompasses the world of early childhood. Since 2019, she has been creating puppets, which often take the form of human faces, to incorporate into short films that explore the distressing and imprisoning impact of time, anxiety, and death.
Asmar has recently begun to perform live, generating highly sensitive experimental compositions through the use of toys, such as a deconstructed children’s piano, a vintage accordion or a metallophone.
Yara Asmar, La Becque, 2024, photo Matthieu Croizier and Aurélien Haslebacher