From the river to the sea
Fundraising Exhibition for Palestine between Paris, Tunis and Beirut.
This exhibition encompasses photographs from our region: Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine-three neighboring countries sharing a complex history. From war to economic crises and ethnic cleansing, the land that was promised as a blessing has become a curse for all of us. Despite our personal struggles and the atrocities happening in our countries, one thing unites us, our resistance and determination to showcase to the world the realities of life in the Middle East.
As a witness of our present and the scars left by the past, from the Lebanese revolution, the after war, individuals navigating their way amid chaos or the ritual of olive picking in Palestine, those photographs of resistance merge into breakthroughs where lies tranquility and contemplation: a peaceful sea and its divers, empty sheets or birds. Yet, those simple moments of life, captured and cherished, in the hope of preserving them forever, are awaiting to be disrupted once again.
Is photography a tool to deal with reality or a means to detach ourselves from it and build a barrier between us and the harshness of the world? Does it serve to craft an alternate one or as a counterbalance to the brutality that unfolds? In contemplating these questions, photography simply emerges as a paradoxical escape, a loophole.
Team
Partner: Marwa Hanachi | Graphic Designer: Sama Beydoun | Location: Ked Beirut
Photographers
Omar Gabriel, Paul Gorra, Rita Kabalan, Victorine Alisse, Nasouh Tayara, Sama Beydoun, Elsie Haddad, Mohammed Nammoor, Manu Ferneini, Walid Nehme, Tanya Traboulsi, Mystic Diapo, Safouane Ben Slama, Ameen Abo Kaseem, Saria Chatila, Roger Mokbel, Betty Ketchedjian, Rima Maroun, Carmen Yahchouchi, Anthony Saroufim and Gabriel Ferneini.
Screening
As We Cross To The Other Side Of The Garden by Ameen Abo Kasseem - Syria, 2022
Le Livre Blanc by Bilal El Kadhi - North Africa, Europe, Middle East 2023
But you won’t notice by Mennatalah Khaled - Egypt 2022
Listening corner
Until Liberation - Learning Palestine by Radio AlHara (lectures, interviews, talks, storytelling, music, poetry. Put together by Learning Palestine Group).
Thanks to all the team, without whom this event in Paris, Tunis, and Beirut would not have been possible: Ameen Abo Kaseem, Rita Kabalan, Marion Catusse, Tarek Idrissi, Bilal Hadjeb, Dunya Boukhers, Shanice Mendy, Sarah Ben Hafsia, B7L9, La Corvée, Ked, and Paladium.
Voices from the Levant in Beirut
Voices from the Levant in Beirut
The tarboush is a traditional headwear worn by Mediterranean people during the late Ottoman Empire. Initially a revolutionary reaction, the tarboush became popular among Levantine people until the mid-20th century. Over time, it evolved into a symbol of unity and independence.
As a tapestry of stories woven from sound to sight through podcasts, screenings, and photographs, Voices from the Levant in Beirut invites us to explore the narratives of Levantine artists living in Lebanon. As we move through the space, we allow ourselves to be immersed in these voices and artistic visions, catching shared moments from each individual's story. But what remains of our identity? Our homeland and heritage?
Accessible through headphones, these glimpses into their lives spread their voices from ear to ear, creating echoes that connect them all through the notions of belonging and homeland. These narratives delve into the personal and collective experiences of art, roots, language, and journeys.
Voices from the Levant in Beirut emerges at a challenging time for the region. Between an heavy past and an uncertain future, the Levant is confronting political, economic, and social crises daily. Palestinians enduring a genocide and constant ethnic cleansing, Syrians being targeted both in their homeland and in Lebanon, itself grappling with an economic crisis and a war in the South.In these dark times, the act of creating bridges reminds us that unity could pave the way for a better future without borders.Listen, observe, reflect, build, and unite.
Team
Director & co-producer: Sarah Claux, Host & co-producer: Elias Douaji, Graphic design: Ibrahim Amoury, Editor: Ameen Abo Kaseem, Location: Ked Beirut -Lebanon, Project Funded by UNESCO.
Guests
Ameen Abo Kaseem, Jana Younes, Sana Tannoury-Karam, Beatlalipos, The World Sucks, Nai Leil and Michel Seeman.
Stillness in the fall
Collectif 1200
Lebanon has always had a turbulent history, but the last few years have been unprecedentedly difficult. Whenever, as Lebanese people, we had the feeling that it couldn’t get worse, it actually did. It’s like we are constantly falling, with no bottom in sight.
Despite all this, there is still something about life here that makes it worth living. Our existence on this stretch of land is an emotional journey, almost mirroring the contrasted landscape on which we live. The high notes can quickly transition into deep downs. In between, there can be moments of stillness but which never last too long. It is really worth wondering about the nature of this inner force that keeps Lebanese people going.
In this exhibition, 11 Lebanese photographers came together to create a moment of stillness amid the chaos in order to reflect on the past few years: Myriam Boulos, Ieva Saudargaite Douaihi, Manu Ferneini, Omar Gabriel, Paul Gorra, Elsie Haddad, Tarek Haddad, Betty Ketchedjian, Rima Maroun, Laura Menassa and Roger Mokbel.
Co-curated with Roger Mokbel
Exhibition supported within Nehna wel Amar wel Jiran by Collectif Kahraba, Hammana Artist House, British Council Lebanon.
Location: Ishbilia Theatre, Saïda - Lebanon
