Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists' Practice
Basis voor Actuele Kunst (BAK) and Post Editions announce the release of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice in the BAK Critical Readers in Artists’ Practice Series.
The reader examines the work of 2011 Prince Claus laureate Rabih 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 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.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice
Edited by: Maria Hlavajova and Jill Winder
Associate Editor: Cosmin Costinaş
Published by: BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht and post editions, Rotterdam
Design: Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht
Language: English Pages: 260ISBN: 978-90-77288-00-9Price: € 24
To order a copy of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, please send an e-mail to info@bak-utrecht.nl.
"examines the social implications of revealing “truth”"
On Rabih Mroué in the 2011 Prince Claus Awards Jury Report
Tuesday
17
Apr
Launch of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice
| location: | SMART Project Space |
| address: | Amsterdam |
| time: | from 8:00 PM till 10:00 PM |
Rabih Mroué
Rabih Mroué Lebanon Rabih Mroué (1967, Beirut) is a challenging visual and performance artist, whose practice investigates truth and fiction, and the mechanisms, varieties and social implications of fabricating ‘truth’. Founded on the Lebanese experience of civil war and its aftermath, his work is highly relevant in the current global context. Mroué’s plays, performances, videos and installations draw audiences into personal experience of assessing truth. They include Looking for a Missing Employee (2003), which presents the mass of rumours, accusations and false reports in official government evidence; Photo-Romance (2006), examining censorship and civil courage in totalitarian contexts; and The Inhabitants of Images (2009), an encounter with the generation of political mythologies. Three Posters (2000) shows a discovered tape of a suicide fighter recording three different versions of his final testimony, and international responses to that work in the post 9/11 situation and the role of media images are presented in On Three Posters (2004). In How Nancy Wished that Everything Was an April Fool’s Joke (2007), four fighters from different factions give sincere accounts of the battle that killed them, but as their memories diverge and contradictions mount it becomes impossible to tell which side they were on, let alone decipher ‘history’. I, The Undersigned (2007) presents Mroué’s apology for his part in the civil war, which includes ‘not being kidnapped or assassinated’, and interrogates the range of fabrications surrounding responsibility and patriotism. Meticulously conceived and staged, Mroué’s works are more often than not joint artistic productions with his partner, Lina Saneh. Mroué also holds several visiting professorships, is contributing editor of The Drama Review and the Lebanese quarterly Kalamon, and is a co-founder of the Beirut Art Centre. Rabih Mroué is awarded for his radical interrogation of memory, power and the construction of truth, for creating direct audience encounters with and methods for analysing the instability of meaning, for stimulating critical social engagement by exposing and opening up discussion on sensitive issues, and for offering a moral voice emphasising individual responsibility.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists' Practicetitle
Basis voor Actuele Kunst (BAK) and Post Editions announce the release of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice in the BAK Critical Readers in Artists’ Practice Series.
The reader examines the work of 2011 Prince Claus laureate Rabih 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 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.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice
Edited by: Maria Hlavajova and Jill Winder
Associate Editor: Cosmin Costinaş
Published by: BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht and post editions, Rotterdam
Design: Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht
Language: English Pages: 260ISBN: 978-90-77288-00-9Price: € 24
To order a copy of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, please send an e-mail to info@bak-utrecht.nl.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists' Practicetitle
Basis voor Actuele Kunst (BAK) and Post Editions announce the release of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice in the BAK Critical Readers in Artists’ Practice Series.
The reader examines the work of 2011 Prince Claus laureate Rabih 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 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.
Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice
Edited by: Maria Hlavajova and Jill Winder
Associate Editor: Cosmin Costinaş
Published by: BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht and post editions, Rotterdam
Design: Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht
Language: English Pages: 260ISBN: 978-90-77288-00-9Price: € 24
To order a copy of Rabih Mroué: A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, please send an e-mail to info@bak-utrecht.nl.
