Bus Cemetery

The lack of public transport in Lebanon and its ‘death’ in our city is seen as an extension of the lack of public spaces such as beaches, parks and pavements. This is why our project Bus Cemetery came about and how it was given a conceptual form.

Bus Cemetery is a sound-based intervention that was performed inside one of the derelict buses in the former train station in Mar Mkhael (Beirut), popularly known as the ‘bus cemetery’. The site is an abandoned field in which the state has been dumping broken buses purchased from Europe but that proved to be dysfunctional due to lack of maintenance and investment in public transport.

This project took its audience on an imagined tour inside an abandoned bus. The audience was ushered into the bus by a female driver, to embark on a short trip in the city.

Sound Installation Performance
Performer: Petra Serhal
Writer: Tania El Khoury
Map and Flier design: Abir Saksouk
Sound Design: Ramzi Madi
Set Design: Rima Najdi
Bus Station, Mar Mkhayel, Beirut 2011
Commissioned by AFAC

Also Read: “Bus Cemetery” published on Ibraaz