Under Surveillance: My File at Branch 215

In this live documentary performance, Syrian journalist and Prisons Museum director Amer Matar opens his personal security file, discovered in the archives of Branch 215 of the Syrian Military Intelligence Directorate. The documents reveal that the surveillance of Matar began in 2009, two years before his arrest. They include security reports, assessments of his activities, summaries of intercepted telephone calls, his arrest order and records of his interrogation. Matar reads these documents to the audience and comments on them, recalling the events and people who were reduced to names and information in a security file. The performance lasts 40 minutes and is followed by a 20-minute audience discussion. It will be presented in Arabic with German interpretation.