Wednesday August 26, 2009 at 8:30pm
Entrance: 3 000 LL |
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  About the event |
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Within the framework of the exhibition “Earth of Endless Secrets”, Beirut Art Center has programed screenings of Akram Zaatari’s video work.
Video in Five Movements (video fi khams harakat)
2006. 9’. Silent
In the 1950s and 1960s, Hashem el-Madani, a studio photographer from Saida, discovered the pleasure of shooting Super-8 film. He asked his subjects to shake hands, walk toward the camera and ascend or descend stairs. The video is an assemblage of Madani’s footage, a time capsule and a tribute to the art of moving pictures.
Reflection (nour)
1995. 10’. Without dialogue
In this video about illumination and friendship, a boy discovers how to manipulate light with a mirror (an integral part of a camera) and introduces the idea of making images into the rituals of daily life among children living in the old city of Saida, Zaatari’s hometown in South Lebanon.
Wassat Bayrout (With Rachad el-Jisr)
1992. 10’. Silent
A group of young boys play choreographed war games amid the architecture of Downtown Beirut in the aftermath of Lebanon’s civil war. While the boys shoot each other with toy guns, the camera lingers on the areas inhabitants, most of whom were displaced by fighting in South Lebanon and are about to be displaced once more.
Her + Him Van Leo (Hia wa houa Van Leo)
2001. 32’.
Arabic, English & French, subtitled in English
A nude portrait of a grandmother provides the pretext for visiting the Armenian-Egyptian photographer Van Leo. The resulting documentary portrays a craftsman who was one of the few studio photographers of his time to consider himself an artist, too. The work seeks to critically consider photography from the 1940s and 1950s without resorting to nostalgia. It creates a dialogue between traditional studio portraiture and experimental video, traces shifts in artistic practice and terminology, and evokes the social, urban and political transformations that took place over a half-century of Egyptian history.
The synopsises are written by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
The screening will be followed by Q&A session with Akram Zaatari. |
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