The ambiguous English title "Flight Mode" refers, on the one hand, to the "flight mode," to the moment of interrupted connections, for some a possibility to pause: simply turning off reality. In this multidisciplinary work, Elisabeth Liselotte Kraus and Nour Sokhon explore the different meanings surrounding the state of "Flight Mode," which can also be translated as "Escape Mode." They examine the sensory connections of individuals with their places of origin, or how the sense of belonging is influenced by the compulsion to flee. Between November 2021 and March 2022, Kraus and Sokhon initiated a research collaboration between Beirut, Leipzig, and Berlin. They collected interviews, ambient sound recordings, photographs, and objects while investigating personal and collective experiences of migration.

The results of their research prompted the duo to consider flight mode as a kind of freedom denied to those who must remain connected from a distance to another place. The artists observed that staying connected is inevitable for people from war zones, as they constantly exist in a state of heightened alertness, living with the awareness that a catastrophe could occur at any moment. This state is explored in the work as a compilation of fragments: text quotes, sound, and a series of sculptures in the form of chairs as a symbol of waiting. The research for this project was funded by the "Weaving Ties" fund of the Goethe Institute, which supports artists, collectives, and independent cultural workers in advancing international networks and dialogues.

Funded by the Goethe Institute Beirut & IFA Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations