Dictaphone Group

Dictaphone Group is a Beirut-based collective using participatory art and research to reclaim public spaces and interrogate urban inequality in Lebanon, founded by artist Tania El Khoury and urban researcher architect Abir Saksouk-Sasso. The group’s practice and methodology merges artistic practice with socio-political research to challenge privatization and advocate for equitable access to urban commons. Founded in 2009, Dictaphone’s work focuses on Beirut’s eroding public spaces, employing methods ranging from sound installations (“Radio Soura”) to guided walks (“Tracing the Common Line”) that reveal hidden histories of land ownership.

Notable projects like This Sea is Mine (2013–ongoing) use mapping, workshops, and public interventions to document coastal privatization, while The People’s Parliament (2020) created a temporary assembly space for citizens to debate urban rights. The collective’s methodology emphasizes collaboration with architects, activists, and local communities to democratize urban discourse.