Book presentation 'In a Time Fleece' with a lecture/performance by Tony Chakar

25 June, 4 p.m.

The exhibition ‘Mounira Al Solh & Bassam Ramlawi’ in SMBA opens its doors already on Saturday, 18 June. The official opening however takes place a week later, on Saturday afternoon, 25 June. It will include the launch of the book Al Solh made on the occasion of receiving the Uriôt Prize from the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, In a Time Fleece. A Publication about Bassam Ramlawi. The book includes a contribution by the Lebanese literary scholar, philosopher and art critic Jacques Aswad and an e-mail exchange between him and Al Solh.

For the book launch the Lebanese architect, artist and writer Tony Chakar will give a lecture/performance The Eighth Day. The Eighth Day (God Created the World in Seven Days. This is the Eighth Day) is an ongoing investigation that began in the aftermath of the attacks on Lebanon in July 2006. During and after the Israeli military operation, images from Lebanon’s recent past (the civil wars of 1975-1990) inundated public realms (space and psyche) as well as discourse – becoming, at times, very difficult to endure – proving that the Lebanese wars (regarded as Catastrophic) are still cast in the unspoken. The Eighth Day weaves a collection of elements such as texts, images, songs, videos, publicity spots, etc., that are metaphorical manifestations of the space and time of the Catastrophe, and attempts to identify the necessary strategies for redeeming the past-as-image.

This lecture/performance and book launch is organized in collaboration with the Rijksakademie.