Friday 9 January 2009

hopes and doubts






A collaborative exhibition of artists from Italy and Lebanon.



In a particular space, the Dome on the martyr square in Beirut, the location has an ephemeral sense as all beirutis have seen this bubble shaped construction. It has survived many battles and wars, it lost its original function as a cinema and is now, waiting for another life or total destruction. This exhibition gave it a new meaning and hope for 3 days only on the 20th of dec 08. The art work will travel to Turin, Italy and will be exhibited in the Merz Foundation on 22 jan to 1st of march 09.

Although intriguing, the collaborative work at first did not seem to have any link. The duets suggest in parallel artists with the same medium.
Geographical maps: Rechmaoui lays on the floor a huge rubber map of Beirut and Pietroniro will ask visitors to pin point the location of their homes in Beirut
Installations: Zena el Khalil painted in pink toy soldiers and hanged them all over the metal structure, Di Maggio proposed hanged thin paper cut in abstract shapes recalling oriental shapes
Sound: Benassi recorded and displayed sounds of a raven while Hashem built an engine by which hammers hit the wall reproducing sounds of deconstruction and reconstruction.
Drawings and photography: Migliora presents a series of 33 drawings of surreal situations between dream and fantasy; Issa features portraits of three women looking at void; Fliri puts on ironical masks on himself and makes art in the process.
The curator, Constantino D'Orazio, has seen the potential of cultural collaboration between the two countries under the support of the Italian embassy. It was a hit on the Lebanese scene as nothing was for sale and yet it was a cultural experience promoting the capacity for artists to interact and share their quest.

http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=95843&videoChannel=76
(check Reuters' site for a visual tour of the site)

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