Of tunnels and flotillas

In Ursula K. Le Guin’s most famous short story, “Those Who Leave Omelas ,” the American writer posed an ethical and moral dilemma that remains relevant today. We’re at the Midsummer Day celebration of a future city called Omelas. It ’s the city of happiness. There are drugs and orgies, if that’s what happiness is for you, Ursula tells us wryly. Everyone in that city is happy . Everyone, except for one little boy who’s locked and abused in a basement. For the whole city to be happy, that little boy has to stay locked there. The people of Omelas know this; they take the children on field trips to see the little boy when they’re little.

I spent the entire weekend watching Instagram stories from acquaintances dancing at Primavera Sound. That wouldn't have been interesting, except that a tunnel recreating the Gaza bombing had been installed outside Primavera Sound. 15 meters of darkness, with loops of bombs, drone sounds, and air raid sirens. No screens or photographic stimuli . Conceived by the NGOs Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra, and NOVACT, and Palestinian engineer Oussama Rima, the idea was to raise awareness that sound can be either the greatest pleasure or the greatest torture. The idea was to shake your body and then let you decide whether or not you want to continue the party.

Artivism ? A marketing campaign against Sónar and Brunch Electronik, the two competing festivals, after the controversy surrounding the latter due to their funding by the pro-Israeli investment fund KKR? In any case, the Unsilence Gaza installation is an interesting social experiment, especially because almost everyone in attendance ignored it . And it was right at the festival gates. Even people entering the tunnel would leave after a few seconds and go find their favorite band.

What I like most about Ursula K. Le Guin's story is the ending. An ending in motion. A journey toward somewhere, because Ursula tells us that sometimes, some of the people who go to see the child don't go home to cry or rage. They just leave . Where? You'd have to ask Liam Cunningham, Greta Thunberg, and the rest of the Freedom Flotilla. "The place they go to is even less imaginable to us than the city of happiness. I can't describe it, at all. It's possible it doesn't exist. But they seem to know very well where those who leave Omelas are going."