For their first solo exhibition at The Third Line and following the first two parts of the project presented at the Sharjah Biennale in March 2011, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige continue their ongoing research on the Lebanese Rocket Society. This exhibition explores three new bodies of works - specifically during the 1960’s at the time of the “great Arab dream” – through a video and sound installation, a photographic series and documentation from Part I and II of the project.

The adventure of the Lebanese Rocket Society began in the early sixties at Haigazian University to study, create and launch rockets for further exploration. From 1960 to 1967, more than ten Cedar rockets were launched giving a rise to national celebrations, resulting in a set of stamps representing the Cedar IV rocket in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of Lebanon’s independence. Since then, the story has become a distant, if not forgotten memory; Hadjithomas and Joreige, as an homage to the notion of monument, recreated a scale reproduction of the Cedar IV rocket, which was exhibited at the 2011 Sharjah Biennale. Restaged, their photographic series that documents the reenactment of the rocket’s transportation through the streets of Beirut, capturing traces of puzzled reactions and strange occurrences.