00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 1 A FORUM ON CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE REGION Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria April 2 - 7, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Compiled by Christine Tohme and Mona Abu Rayyan Texts edited by Ghenwa Hayek, Bilal Khbeiz, Samer Abu Hawache A Project by The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, Ashkal Alwan 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 2 Home Works: A Forum on Cultural Practices in the Region Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria A book by Christine Tohme and Mona Abu Rayyan April 2 - 7, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Curated by: Christine Tohme Produced by: The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts - Ashkal Alwan Supported by: The Prince Claus Fund, Ford Foundation and the Lebanese Ministry of Culture This book is published by the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts - Ashkal Alwan Shashmanian building, 3rd floor, Boutros Dagher street, Gemmayzeh, Beirut, Lebanon [email protected] Copyright © 2003 The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts - Ashkal Alwan Copyright © 2003 Christine Tohme Texts copyright © 2003 the authors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any informa- tion storage retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher. ISBN 9953-0-0117-0 Tohme, Christine/Abu Rayyan, Mona Home Works: A Forum on Cultural Practices in the Region Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria Cultural Studies/Art Practices/Middle Eastern Studies/Graphic Arts/Performance Art Opposite page: Image from Graham, Kunth, Patashnik, Concrete Mathematics.2nd edition, Preface, viii Following spread: Missing Links, image by and courtesy of Marwan Rechmaoui Introductory Image (Arabic): ‘Quel bon sens’, provided courtesy of Michel Sayegh, L’Orient-Le Jour Photographic documentation and reproduction: Agop Kanledjian Other images were provided by Fondation Arabe pour l’Image, the Al-Mustaqbal Daily Newspaper and the presenters/performers Design and artwork: Mind the gap Scanning and repro: Mind the gap Typography: Monotype Gill Sans Printing and binding: Dar el Kotob Printing House, Lebanon, January 2003 This book was published with the support of the Prince Claus Fund Additional support to the Home Works Forum project was provided by the Ford Foundation and the Lebanese Ministry of Culture Ford Foundation 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 3 Graham, Kunth, Patashnik, Concrete Mathematics.2nd edition, Preface, viii 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 4 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 5 Missing Links, courtesy of Marwan Rechmaoui 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 6 Acknowledgments The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, Ashkal Alwan, would like to express its gratitude to all those who participated in the Home Works Forum, and to all those who contributed to the making of this book. The participants to the forum were: Jananne Al Ani, Mohamad Ali Al- Atassi, Abbas Baydoun, Catherine David, Bita Fayyazi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Hassan Khan, Samia Mehrez, Issam Nassar, Khalil Rabah, Rasha Salti, Lina Saneh & Rabih Mroué, Randa Shaath, Jalal Toufic, Nadine Touma,Akram Zaatari and Tirdad Zolghadr. Films and videos screened at the forum included: Al Mumiaa - The Days of Counting the Years, by Shadi Abdel Salam; Tahadi, by Nizar Hassan; Zinat: A Special Day, by Ibrahim Mokhtari; Baalbeck, by Ghassan Salhab, Mohammad Soueid and Akram Zaatari; The Arab Dream - Homage by Assassination - Cyber Palestine,by Elia Suleiman; and, The Sleep of Reason:This Blood Spilled in My Veins,by Jalal Toufic. The contributors to the making of the book include as editors, Samer Abu Hawache, Ghenwa Hayek and Bilal Khbeiz; as translators, Samer Abu Hawache, Mona Abu Rayyan,Tony Chakar, Leila Khatib, Bilal Khbeiz, Rasha Salti, Karl Sharro and Afif Talhouk.We would like to thank Walid Sadek for his generous consultations. Finally, our gratitude to Mind the gap. Other persons, whose support was vital to the making of this entire project, were: the Minister of Culture Dr. Ghassan Salameh, Mona Abou Samra, Raseel Hadjinian, Pierre Abi Saab, Rose Issa, Basma El Husseiny, Samar Wahab, Geerta Wachter, Sami Azar, Karl Bassil, Merwad Abdullah, Omar Harkous, the Cultural Consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mounira Solh, Ghassan Mukheiber, Zico House and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Due to legal considerations, one lecture presented at the Home Works Forum was not incorporated in this book. 00-HW book EN ed Flash+ 9/28/09 7:03 PM Page 7 Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Lectures Scenes and Types, Jananne Al Ani .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Culture and Arts; Re:The Actual, Abbas Baydoun .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Learning from Beirut: Contemporary Aesthetic Practices in Lebanon, Catherine David ...................................................................... 32 Latency, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40 Image in Crisis:The Case of Hajj Metwalli’s Family, Samia Mehrez ............................................................................................................................................ 50 Early Photography in Palestine: Between Social and Imaginary Landscapes, Issam Nassar ................................................................. 58 Framing the Subversive in Post-War Beirut, Rasha Salti ........................................................................................................................................................................... 78 ‘Ashura’, or Torturous Memory as a Condition of Possibility of an Unconditional Promise, Jalal Toufic ...................... 94 The Singular of Seeing, Akram Zaatari ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 102 Shahrazad: Political Art Brochure, Tirdad Zolghadr ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 110 Performances Tabla Dubb:An Audio-Visual Performance, Hassan Khan ..................................................................................................................................................................... 120 Biokhraphia, Lina Saneh and Rabih Mroué ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 122 Ode to Rhinos, Nadine R. L.Touma ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 136 Exhibits The Crows, Bita Fayyazi ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 145 Copyright, Khalil Rabah .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 147 Being there…, Randa Shaath ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 149 Films Al Mumiaa - The Days of Counting the Years, Shadi Abdel Salam .......................................................................................................................................... 152 Tahadi, Nizar Hassan ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 153 Zinat:A Special Day, Ibrahim Mokhtari .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 154 Baalbeck, Ghassan Salhab, Mohammad Soueid, Akram Zaatari .....................................................................................................................................................