Exhibition by Hiba Tahhan
“سرّك في شجرتك” (Sirak fi Shajartak; Your secret lies within your tree) is inspired by Arabic proverbs such as “سرّك في بئرك” (Sirak fi bi’rak; Your secret is in your well) and “سرّك من دمك” (Sirak min damak; Your secret is of your own blood). These proverbs speak about how deeply secrets sit within culture and the self. A secret in this sense is something that should be kept deep, like something dropped into a well, never brought back up or exposed.
This is also expressed in a line by Khalil Gibran: “إذا بحت بسرك للريح فلا تلمها حين تفشيه للشجر” (If you reveal your secret to the wind, do not blame it when it spreads it to the trees). Here, secrecy moves into nature itself, where the wind and trees become part of its circulation. In this sense, the trees are us, and the wind is the secret moving between us, carrying what is not to be spoken of.
I focused on trees following a shared sense of concern during the last olive season. Some would say, “as if the trees were feeling what was happening around them.” At the same time, I learned that olive trees naturally move in cycles, years of abundance and years of rest. Still, the overlap between ecological rhythm and political reality was hard to ignore.
“سرّك في شجرتك” (Sirak fi Shajartak) is a series of works that emerged from workshops and the stories shared within them. Through collected stories, sounds, and secrets, the work asks what can be kept and what cannot.
Curated by Nisreen Tahhan
29 May: Vernissage at 17h, Apero at 18h, Performance / Readings at 19h
30 May: Exhibition runs from 12h-22h, Workshop at 17h-19h, Light dinner at 19h, Film screening + roundtable at 20h
31 May: Exhibition runs from 12h-18h
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Workshop: Coded Secrets
What the tree does not repeat
Coded Secrets is a workshop on listening to what cannot be immediately or easily said and on how secrets can transform into forms of code and ways of holding meaning without fully exposing it.
We will gather under a tree and spend time with questions around secrecy, sound, and coded communication. What is a secret? When does something become hidden? How does it travel without being fully revealed? And how might a tree carry what is not spoken?
The workshop moves between listening, reflecting and translating; exploring how we carry and reshape what we choose to share or withhold. Together, we will experiment with transforming personal and collective “secrets” into coded sound forms.
We will also work with field recordings and explore a personal approach to sound coding through layering and mixing.
Sign up for the workshop: HERE
Information
Date: 30 May, 17:00–19:00
Participants: max. 10
Location: Les Complices*, Anwandstrasse 9, 8004 Zurich
Language: English/Arabic
All materials provided
