Swedish artist Per Huttner invites the citizens of Beirut to an artistic walk through their city (at Assabil Library on September 12, 5.30pm at  Geitawi Garden in Beirut) that will be followed by the screening of a short film entitled “the Silence” that the artist has created specifically for the Volume project (At 7pm at 98weeks.) Both works look at how metaphysics and politics of our everyday lives dialogue to shape our existence. Huttner introduces an imaginary silence that mystically descends on the inhabitants of the city and stops them from both uttering or hearing any sounds. In the film we follow women who are mysteriously trapped in a library and who follow the political changes that take place outside as a crippling silence descends on the city and their lives. Drawing from Ingemar Bergman and Louis Buñuel The Silence is both a reflection on the library, Huttner’s Nordic upbringing and creates a wedge between imagination and reality that compels us to reflect on values that we normally take for granted. The project is a collaboration with cinematographer and director Yang Tingting.