French Quarter installation of bells

“Recitations (...pour le triomphe de la liberté et de l'égalité...)”

January 9, 2018
12:30–1:30 p.m.
410 Chartres Street
Admission is free.

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On Tuesday, January 9, The Historic New Orleans Collection presents the first program in conjunction with the exhibition Art of the City: Postmodern to Post-Katrina, presented by The Helis Foundation: a discussion of the sound installation Recitations (...pour le triomphe de la liberté et de l'égalité...) with artist Zarouhie Abdalian. The debut of the work kicks off a year of programming related to the contemporary art exhibition Art of the City, which will open at THNOC’s new exhibition center at 520 Royal Street in fall 2018.

In Abdalian’s installation five bells ring together daily, each making a unique statement. Though bells have featured prominently in the French Quarter’s soundscape for nearly three hundred years, the cadences in Recitations (...pour le triomphe de la liberté et de l'égalité...) differ in character from the tolls announced by the church, the school, or the factory, and thereby propose a reimagined relationship between the bells and those they hail. Reverberating across Toulouse, Royal, St. Louis, and Chartres streets, the work offers a unique sonic experience in the heart of the French Quarter.

The January 9 program will take place at 12:30 p.m., and Abdalian and history scholar Shane Lief will offer remarks. Following the presentation, Abdalian will lead visitors on a walk to hear a special ringing of the bells at 1:15. Light refreshments will be available at THNOC's 533 Royal Street facilities. 

Recitations (...pour le triomphe de la liberté et de l'égalité...) will recur daily at 3 p.m. through June 3, 2018.