Akram Zaatari
Akram Zaatari (born in 1966 in Sidon, Lebanon) is a Lebanese contemporary artist[1]. He is known for his archival photography and also works with film, installation and performance. Central to his work is Lebanon, and other regions in the Middle East, during the years of the civil war and its aftermath. His work focuses mainly on South Lebanon, where a lot of fighting took place.
Works[change | change source]
Letter to a Refusing Pilot[change | change source]
The installation was featured at the 55th Venice Biennial in 2013, where Zaatari represented Lebanon.[2] The installation is about a pilot, Hagai Tamir, who refuses to bomb a school in Sidon[1]. Whilst growing up in Sidon, Zaatari heard rumours about the refusing pilot and after some years the identity of the pilot was revealed to him.[3] Letter to a Refusing Pilot uses a combination of visual techniques, enhancing their message through the placement of the individual elements[3] It uses archival material like photos, videos, diary entries, newspaper cutouts. This work is about revisiting and reconstructing the past in a way that deviates from the dominant historical narratives.[3]
This Day[change | change source]
This is a video essay shot in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. It was released in 2003. It is an open-ended documentary that examines different modes of access to information: travel, television, the Internet. The film is about the ordinary images of the Middle East within the context of war.[4] In an interview, Zaatari describes this work as being about what pushes one to record ordinary daily things, which may not be usually seen as worth historically documenting.[5] It links to the artist's wider interest in time capsules. [5]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Julia, Kozakiewicz (March 2023). "Interview with Akram Zaatari".
- ↑ "Akram Zaatari Lebanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale". e-flux. May 16, 2023.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 14 (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Singh Johal, Rattanamol (August 4, 2021). "Mediality and Memory: Akram Zaatari's Letter to a Refusing Pilot". Retrieved 20 April, 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help) - ↑ Elias, Chad. "The Libidinal Archive: A Conversation with Akram Zaatari". Tate Papers. 19.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa. The American University in Cairo Press. 2022. p. 389. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2twz9xn.30. ISBN 978-977-416-958-8.