Rubble Theatre
New work by Manaf Halbouni commissioned by Counterpoints and Refugee Festival Scotland.
German-Syrian artist Manaf Halbouni’s sculpture Rubble Theatre recreates a scene of destruction in Syria, featuring the rubble of a bombsite and an abandoned car. Halbouni was born in Syria, the son of a Syrian father and a German mother. He studied at art school in Syria and then moved to Germany a few years before the war. In 2017, far-right groups in Germany protested against his installation Monument, which erected three, upended buses at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and at the Frauenkirche in Dresden, in homage to a barricade of buses that protected civilians from sniper fire in Aleppo.
Vehicles (and most frequently cars) are a repeating theme in Halbouni’s work – whether as a means of escape or as a mobile home. ‘With the car, a symbol of mobility, I try to reach a place that I can call home to take root again,’ he says. Rubble Theatre will bring the theme of displacement to the heart of Glasgow and be a space for emerging artists from refugee and migrant backgrounds and others to meet, discuss and share their work.
Rubble Theatre continues Halbouni’s ongoing exploration of belonging and ‘home’, acting as a catalyst for public discussions central to Refugee Festival Scotland’s theme of ‘Making Art, Making Home’ – enabling wider dialogue about the pivotal role of art in creating welcoming and inclusive communities.
