Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige: Two Suns in the Sunset

Two Suns in the Sunset presents a selection of works by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, some of which have not been seen before.

The exhibition features works from the late 1990s to the present day and is structured into five chapters based on the artists’ exploration, and research into the image: how are images affected by violence and war? How can shape be given to the invisible through the latency of images, their persistence? How do images distort or shift the imaginary and the gaze? How do virtual images taken from the internet become “the rumours of the world?” Finally, how can poetry be pitted against the chaos of today’s world?

Born in Beirut, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are self-taught artists and film-makers whose projects and films examine how images are created. Through works in which fiction, documentary, photography, video and installation interact, the artists create projects that have a political resonance, while retaining a poetic and artistic dimension. In their view, art’s strength lies in its power as a vehicle for memory and resistance, as well as sharing and openness.

The construction of imaginary and the writing of history are lying at the heart of Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s work. Without succumbing to nostalgia, they explore and revisit personal and collective accounts through political archives, stories kept secret or family documents. They are mainly interested in the present, drawing on the past only in order to question the state of our societies.

Curators: Hoor Al Qasimi (Sharjah Art Foundation), José Miguel G. Cortés (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern), Marta Gili (Jeu de Paume) and Anna Schneider (Haus der Kunst, Munich). 

This exhibition is coproduced by the Jeu de Paume, Paris; the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah; the Haus der Kunst, Munich; and the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain. 

To have more information about the show and to get press images, please contact presse@jeudepaume.org.

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Ismyrne
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Exhibition tour with the artists
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Je Veux Voir / Le Film Perdu
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Film screenings and discussion with the artists and Antoine Thirion 

The Lebanese Rocket Society
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Film screening and discussion with the artists and Clément Dirié