Assistant professor Monika Weiss will deliver a public performance and sound composition November 11 as part of The International Criminal Court at Ten Conference, presented by the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute.

In her transdisicplinary work as an artist, Weiss examines relationships between body and history, and evokes ancient rituals of lamentation as traditionally performed in response to war. Her current work considers aspects of public memory and amnesia as reflected within the physical and political space of a City.

Sustenazo (Lament IV) is devoted to commemorating the victims of war crimes and of other globally perpetuated atrocities that continue to invade the world we inhabit. Weiss composed sound environment for Sustenazo (Lament IV) that is an equal component of the piece, and which includes participation by student volunteers from the Sam Fox School and the University at large.

"In Sustenazo (Lament IV) the young women and men perform and re-perform universally recognizable gestures of grief and mourning," Weiss says. "Their slow and minimal movements are performed in silence.

"As the performers move throughout the open space, there are no boundaries between those who perform and those who observe them," she continues. "Therefore, the expression of grief becomes a shared experience, transcending the cultural, geographical, and political divides."

Support for Sustenazo (Lament IV) is provided by the Charles and Bunny Burson Art Fund at the Sam Fox School. The performance will take place at 2p, November 11, in Crowder Courtyard of Anheuser-Busch Hall, part of the WUSTL School of Law.

During a public reception following the performance and two keynote addresses, graduate students in art and law will conduct interviews with audience members as part of a transdisciplinary research project that is currently being developed by Weiss and Leila Sadat, the Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law and director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. Their joint research looks at the empirical and affective impact of public art in advancing general understanding and academic discussions of international justice.