New BAK Critical Reader:
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice
Edited by Maria Hlavajova and Jill Winder
Published by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht
and post editions, Rotterdam
www.bak-utrecht.nl
www.post-editions.com
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst and post editions are pleased to announce the release of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, the inaugural publication in the BAK Critical Readers in Artists’ Practice Series.
The reader examines the work of Mroué (born 1967), an actor, director, playwright, and artist based in Beirut, whose complex and diverse practice spans disciplines and formats such as music, performance, theater, and visual art. As one of the key artistic voices in Lebanon and beyond, Mroué’s work explores how varied modes of art can open up a space of possibility in connection to civic and political imagination. The reader includes a range of commissioned critical essays, new translations, and anthologized texts by artists, art historians, curators, and thinkers.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice is co-edited by Maria Hlavajova (artistic director, BAK) and Jill Winder with associate editor Cosmin Costinaş. It includes contributions by: Maaike Bleeker (art historian, Utrecht/Amsterdam); Keti Chukhrov (art theorist, Moscow); Fadi El Abdallah (poet and jurist, The Hague); Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (filmmakers, Beirut); Nataša Ilić (curator, Berlin); Bilal Khbeiz (artist and poet, Los Angeles); Anders Kreuger (curator and writer, Antwerp); Hila Peleg (curator and filmmaker, Berlin) and Stella Bruzzi (media theoretician, Warwick); Walid Raad (artist, New York); Jalal Toufic (artist and writer, Berlin); Kaelen Wilson-Goldie (art critic, Beirut); and Akram Zaatari (artist, Beirut). The reader is designed by Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht. Language: English. ISBN: 978-90-77288-00-9.
The reader is launched through a series of presentations in various contexts, including: “The Dutch Assembly” at ARCOmadrid with a performance by Mroué and presentation by Hlavajova, 19 February 2012; on the occasion of the 2011 Prince Claus Awards ceremony for Mroué at Ashkal Alwan Beirut, 15 March 2012; and in Amsterdam in collaboration with BAK, SMART Project Space and the Prince Claus Fund, 17 April 2012.
This is the inaugural publication in the BAK Critical Readers in Artists’ Practice Series. In parallel to BAK’s acclaimed series of Critical Readers in Contemporary Art, this new publishing line examines the practice and body of work of artists who we believe manage to shift the understanding and the potential of art in the changing world of today, and of tomorrow. More rigorous and comprehensive than the formats of a traditional catalog or artists book usually allow, these readers attempt to offer serious intellectual, speculative engagement with artists’ work across a spectrum of perspectives and critical approaches.
To order a copy of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, please send an e-mail to info [at] bak-utrecht.nl or visit the website of post editions: www.post-editions.com.
