"The affable Nights in Vienna"
Design Shanghai, the " inter school & community invitational exhibit", Power station Museum,Shanghai, China, March2014

sound installation, duration: 20 min (loop) 
The project is based on a song written for the Syrian singer Asmahan who has been one of the most famous singers in the Arab world. Asmahan sang the song “The euphoric nights in Vienna” in her last film “Passion and Revenge” realized in 1944. During the production of the film she died in a tragic car accident under unclear circumstances. 
The song imagines Vienna as a paradise on earth, a city full of music, charm and love and therefore the lyrics have inspired many generations in different Arab countries to imagine the Austrian capital as an ideal place and a symbol of western freedom. Until today the song inspires Arab people to use Vienna as a metaphor for their search of an idealistic concept of a city. As someone coming from this region and who grew up with Asmahan’s song, I am now living a real experience of Vienna: My personal reflective journey through the city has been documented by different sounds recorded in the city of Vienna and by excerpts of Asmahan’s song, where the sound of Vienna as I've received it has a different impact from what Asmahan was singing for.
Therefore, I'm inviting the audience to continue the work through their participation : 

„Dear walkers of the city,

please, listen to this sound piece from any mobile device (iPhone, mp3, mp4 ...). 
You can listen to this sound piece through your walk in the city where you are surrounded by another atmosphere. 
Stroll around for at least 20 minutes, take your time to look, to listen and to write down or 
draw what kind of inputs of the urban environment were affecting your imagination through your walk, by listening to the sound piece.
Your participation and interaction with this work will add to the project using a 
psychogeographic practice of mapping a city by movement using new media and social 
interaction. 
Finally, please don’t forget to let us know about your writing and drawing, as new 
contribution to the archive.“