PARACHUTE #108
"Beirut": a pivotal city between contemporary art and the Arab
world
Montreal, October 8, 2002 - PARACHUTE is launching its latest issue,
devoted to "Beirut" in Montreal at the Canadian Centre for Architecture
on
the 10th of October at 7:00 p.m. This event underscores PARACHUTE's
ambition to further develop its interest in Beirut and the Arab world,
and
to pursue the dynamics of exchange initiated in this issue. Chantal
Pontbriand, the magazine's editor in chief, will present the issue to
the
public on this occasion. The presentation itself will be followed by a
conference given by architects from the Lebanese, New-York-based group
L.E.FT. The Canadian Centre for Architecture is organising and
presenting
this event in the framework of its Thursday night discussions held
during
the debate series, "Opinions".
This issue is part of PARACHUTE's ongoing series devoted, once a year,
to
those cities in the world where a confluence of intellectual and
artistic
activities are fostering new developments in artistic practices,
transforming established dynamics, indicating new paths for
understanding
the current context and detecting future shifts. This issue's goal is to
identify the different characteristics, trends and players - both
intellectuals and artists - in order to better grasp what is at stake in
the given context. The first issue of the series, devoted to Mexico City
(autumn 2001), has been a resounding success.
In light of the current conjuncture, it strikes us as crucial to turn
toward the Arab world and investigate the new conditions and artistic
practices that are manifest there. Beirut is emblematic in this regard,
given its multicultural, multi-denominational makeup, caught between war
and peace, grappling with problems of territoriality and multiple
identity. The city of Beirut has emerged as a cultural hub, fostering an
artistic context able to engender a critique of a modernist vision of
history, with its cleavages between past and present, history and the
future, the local and the global. In this political and social context,
the city has become a focal point in art for the expression of such a
critique, informed by writing, the image, urban space, questions of
agency, daily life, concepts of change, friendship and exchange.
The issue itself deals with the specific artistic practices developed by
artists living in Beirut - as well as others from the Lebanese diaspora
-
including Walid Sadek, Akram Zaatari, Mohamad Soueid, Mahmoud Hojeij,
Michel Lasserre and Paola Yacoub, Walid Ra'ad, Bilal Khbeiz,
Rabih Mroué,
Tony Chakar, Jayce Salloum and Mona Hatoum. Several of these
artists have
themselves contributed texts, as writing - like video - is one of the
preferred media for many artists working in Beirut. Solid ties link
these
artists whose practices and ideas have created a mutually reinforcing
dynamic. Though architectural issues can be discerned in many
Beirut-based
practices, it is more specifically dealt with here in A. Hashim
Sarkis'
text, and the project developed by L.E.FT and Amale
Andraos. The issue
includes a project by Gilbert Boyer, a Montreal-based artist, closely
interested in Beirut's urban setting. Organisations and intellectuals
who
have played a key role in structuring Beirut's cultural context -
including the Arab Image Foundation, the Ashkal Alwan
Association, the
Ayoul Festival, as well as Elias Khoury, Hazim Saghie and
Hoda Barakat -
are also featured.
Amale Andraos and the founders of group L.E.FT, Naji Moujaes,
Makram,
El-Kadi and Ziad Jamaleddine are international Lebanese architects.
Working along with Rem Koolhaas and Steven Holl among others, they
collaborated here to create a project for the Beirut issue. Choosing the
form of fictional postcards, these architects propose to bring forth and
reflect on cultural and political issues specific to the city.
The conference is held in English.
PARACHUTE is also launching its issue "Beirut" on the occasion of the
9th
Summit of French-speaking countries, focusing on the theme of "Le
dialogue
des cultures," on 19 October at the Agial Gallery. A public discussion
bringing together authors and artists from issue #108 is also to be held
at Espace SD on 17. Launches and panels will be held in Paris and
in New
York in the course of the year.
PARACHUTE is grateful for the financial support of the Canada Council
for
the Arts, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Arts
Council
of the Montreal Urban Community, the Fonds de stabilisation et de
consolidation des arts et de la culture du Québec, the City of
Montreal,
and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec.
The launch in Beirut as well as the conference in Montreal have been
made
possible thanks to the support of the Ministère de la Culture et des
Communications du Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du
Québec,
the Ministère des Relations internationales du Québec and the
Canadian
Centre for Architecture. The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade has also provided support for the publication of
this
issue.
Source > Monica Györkös t > 514 842 9805 f > 514 842 9319
www.parachute.ca > info@parachute.ca
For a French version of this information please go to:
http://www.parachute.ca
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