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just caught an interview with the very brave parvez sharma talking about his documentary (a jihad for love) exploring islam and homosexuality on CNN (triggered by california finally overturning the gay-marriage ban).excellent to see such sensitive subjects being tackled, although its doubtful there will be many public screenings in the islamic world (how about some guerrilla screenings 9714?). parvez talked about portraying the alternative interpretation of jihad (an inner struggle / search for god) to western audiences rather than the oft-used 'holy war' version. the characters portrayed have apparently chosen to try reconciling their faith and sexuality rather than rejecting either. can't wait to track this one down.
David Kaufman reports in last month's Wallpaper* on the emergence of what Mercer calls Global Nomadic Expatriates (GNEs): 'These are career expats'...'They move from country to country with no particular loyalty to a home nation'.
Could easily be referring to the original tribe Tyler Brule set out to reach when he launched Wallpaper* back in 96.
These GNE's differ from the traditional expat in the way that they reach out and ingrain themselves in local society for a few years before picking up and repeating somewhere new. over and over and over. This Bidoun lifestlye has always appealed to me on a conceptual level although looking back over my first thirty years I am surprised at how non-footloose they have been. Maybe life at forty will mean jetting between seven different buy-to-let hotel rooms in stimulating cities around the world. Starting out with The Jones.
dubai's newest and surely biggest gallery opened its doors last night, hosting hundreds of collectors, art lovers and dxb-hipsters.
ayyam is one of damascus' most celebrated and successful galleries and it just opened its first international outpost, a magnificently designed 7,500 sq ft lofted space in al quoz, dubai's fledgling take on ny's chelsea / london's shoreditch.
the opening show 'contemporary syria' displayed a massive and diverse range of work by young syrian artists as well as luminaries of modern syrian art like louay kayyali and safwan dahloul and made excellent use of the space's three disctict areas, with the sexy mezannine gallery displaying the show's big pieces including louay kayyali's 'thouma maza' or 'then what' - a legendary 1965 painting predicting the palestinian's looming despair with devestating effect.
my favorite section was the 'shabbab ayyam' (ayyam youth) in the main gallery area that showcased young emerging syrian talent. some great work, i'll need to go back to the gallery and note names and hopefully post some more photos too.
once again, the city of dubai astounds. the way the art scene has been developing and indeed blowing up recently is in line with the way things happen in dubai, people from all over the world see an opportunity and waste no time seizing it. due kudos to the art-scene and alquoz pioneers: B21 (Jeffar started the Dubai-Chelsea movement) and of course the standard bearers The Third Line.
i hope those redeveloping alquoz take note of the area's industrial-art heritage (dubai timelines here) when redesigining and rezoning the area.
disclosure: hisham samawi, the gallery's dubai-based partner (and cousin of Khaled Samawi, Ayyam's ex-banker founder) is a friend i have known for time and my primary golfing buddy.
Mitra Tabrizian: This is that Place
4 June – 10 August 2008
Tate Britain, Level 2
Millbank, London
Admission free. Open daily 10.00-18.00, until 22.00 on the first Friday of the month
In June 2008, Tate Britain will open the first major exhibition in the UK of the work of the Iranian-British photographer and film director, Mitra Tabrizian. Born in Tehran, Tabrizian’s primary concerns are contemporary issues and debates and her interests range from post-feminism and post-colonial theories and the effects of late capitalism in Britain, to the shifting realities of life in post-revolutionary Iran. Bringing together more than 17 works from the last eight years, this exhibition will focus on themes of the rise of corporate culture, ageism, nomadism, migrancy and notions of homeland.
Tabrizian’s particular conceptual approach to constructed picture-making will also be revealed. Combining documentary techniques with those of film to make elaborate photographic tableaux, her photographs are carefully staged so that the images operate as condensed narratives. Sometimes these narratives span a sequence of stills, as in the series The Perfect Crime 2003-2004 and Lost Time 2004, while in other works such as Silent Majority the storyline is concentrated within one frame. The themes of these works echo earlier pieces such as Beyond the Limits 2000 in offering a challenging critique of corporate culture and contemporary life.
In her most recent works, including Border 2005-6 and Tehran 2006, Tabrizian has been influenced by New Wave Iranian Cinema. This has transformed Iranian film in the last two decades and according to Rose Issa, curator of this exhibition, its cinematic language “champions the poetry in everyday life and the ordinary person by blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, feature film with documentary”.
Tehran 2006, a large panoramic photograph of a run-down residential area in the outskirts of the capital, is populated by a disparate group of people with all the characters playing themselves: the crowd is a mixture of people who are struggling and have been let down by the promises of revolution; a taxi driver, factory worker, builder, cleaner, dress-maker and servant. Border, a group of photographs from 2005-6, shows real people, immigrants who have left Iran and crossed borders in search of a better life, in everyday settings. They are shown lost in thought having brought their borders with them, remaining divided between their present circumstances and their longing for home, or their desire to feel at home in their new surroundings.
Tabrizian has exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe, Asia and the USA, including most recently a solo exhibition at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2006). Her work was included in Veil, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (2003) and Voodoo Macbeth: A tribute to the work of Orson Welles, De la Warr Pavillion. Bexhill (2006). This exhibition has been selected by Rose Issa. It will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with a text by T.J.Demos and interview by Rose Issa (price £6.99).
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i dug up an old book (and an old jacket that i'm guessing inspired helmut lang's thumbloop phase) i bought in new york back in 1998 at maybe the hippest store i've ever shopped: 'hotel of the rising star' at 13 prince st (probably the original five green inspiration), run by a bunch of architects who sold their ORFI label (organization for returning fashion interest) and a wonderfully carefully curated collection of things including event horizon, edited by michael tarantino and inspired by a michelangelo antonioni essay (event horizon was a series of exhibitions organized by the irish museum of modern art exploring the european identity). the fifth artist page is an essay on 'calendar' by atom egoyan:
"The idea of a nation is something which fascinates me. If we are to presume that a nation is the result of a collective projection, then it is clear that the idea of national territory is more of a pyschological concept than it is a definition set by physical borders."
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"In conceiving 'Calendar', I wanted to find a story that would deal with these three levels of Armenian consciousness: Nationalist, Diasporan and Assimilationist."
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"The metaphor of seperation in the film ... is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of national identity."
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"Taken outside of its source, national identity can become contrived and absurd. Yet what is the 'source' of something so complex and profound? Is it limited to a physical dimension? Can it be defined by other means? These are questions which I am still asking, and I'm excited that 'Calendar' has helped me to begin to answer."
A. Egoyan
just caught some of the excellent BBC world debate at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East starring tony blair (who gets more and more impressive), ehud barak, salam fayyad and gamal mubarak. sharing the stage with these world leaders were 19 middle eastern youth delegates (plus a south korean for some reason). the debate was supposed to focus on the issues facing the middle east's youth, but the only topics covered in the last 20 minutes or so were centered on the palestinian-israeli issue.
i have to say i was surprised the issue featured so prominently but perhaps it had more to do with the panel than with the true interests and concerns of youth in the region. certainly my personal experience has lead me to believe that the palestinian issue doesn't feature that prominently in most young people's thoughts on the future of the region. the focus is usually on economic development, freedom of speech, human rights and democracy and more recently the iraq-us thing.
of the 20 youth delegates, a few really stood out as being interesting, thoughtful, well-poised voices. first and foremost was jordanian naseem tarawnah who runs the excellent black iris blog. israeli (i think) shira efron asked some excellent, prodding questions about the futile nature of attempting progress without inclusive discussions (very timely with all the appeasement talk going back and forth between obama and mccain right now). and i'd like to know more about saudi hani zedan. all these kids are definitely going places, and hopefully taking us with them.
i'm not a fan of the idea of a state based on religion, and i am not particularly well-versed in israeli-palestinian history, nor do i plan on delving into it too much. but i do have a few general thoughts on israel and the arab perspective:
+ israel exists. it isn't going anywhere so put the past behind you and accept and over time even try to love thy neighbor (and no more israeli scapegoating already);
+ palestininian leadership has been embarassingly ineffectual even by super-sub-par middle eastern standards, they need to get their shit together (fayyad who i had never heard of before tonight seemed nice but didn't come across as a leader);
+ states and political actors like iran, hamas, syria and hizbulla are evil, come out and be frank about it (disown them).
with either obama or mccain running the world from next year and tony blair repping the quartet, who knows, real peace progress may actually take place in the coming years. as ever i am optimistic.
i always look forward to mona eltahawy's posts. her latest on the blossoming arab blogosphere has inspired me to share some recently discovered / subscribed egyptian blogs:
