This Day

THIS DAY
London Tate Modern
4-13 May 2007

THIS DAY: RECENT FILM AND VIDEO FROM THE MIDDLE EAST is a series of works by international artists whose work responds to the cultural, social, historical and political contexts of the Middle East.

Nine screenings will present work by more than forty artists from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, in addition to artists from Europe and the United States whose work relates to the Middle East. Featured highlights include an opening performance by Rabih Mroué and a survey of work by Akram Zaatari.

The ongoing events in the Middle East produce a flow of images that often represent war, destruction and conflict. Channelled through television and the internet, this imagery constructs and distorts the global understanding of the region, facilitating stereotypes and contaminating efforts to reconstruct a collective memory left in ruins. This Day hopes to challenge these representations by showing moving image work that offers new critical viewpoints onto the region’s rich visual culture. More than ever before, film and video-making from the Middle East interrogates cinematic and photographic images to consider fundamental ethical and political problems and to question the limits of freedom.

Curated by Predrag Pajdic & Samar Martha.

Supported by Arts Council England, The Henry Moore Foundation, the British Council, Visiting Arts, and the Arts Club.

Make Me Stop Smoking (Rabih Mroué, 2006)

Friday 4 May 2007, at 7pm
RABIH MROUÉ: MAKE ME STOP SMOKING

This Day opens with a live performance by renowned Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué. "I have been collecting worthless material for almost ten years now, taking good care arranging it, documenting it, indexing it, and preserving it from any possible damage. This material is constituted of cut outs from local newspapers, photographs, interviews, news stories, excerpts from television programs, objects and other things … Today I possess what resembles an archive, or let’s say I possess a real archive that relates only to me: a kind of added memory that occupies different corners of my domestic space, despite the fact that I do not actually need. It is an invented memory that is exhausting me, and which I cannot liberate myself from. For this reason, I will uncover some parts of my archive, hoping that by making it public I can get rid of its weight. This will be my attempt to destroy a memory that doesn’t know how to erase itself." (Rabih Mroué)

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Saturday 5 May 2007, at 3pm
PLAY

Experimental video works that focus attentively on singular actions, rituals and customs. Seemingly unrelated, the pieces all pritoritise an attentive gaze, focusing on the details of the everyday until dogmas are no longer useful.

Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid, Our Hands, Syria 1984, 9 min
Mania Akbari, Self, Iran 2003, 6 min
Mireille &, 3494 Houses and One Fence, Lebanon 2006, 6 min
Yasmeen Al Awadi, Two Square Kilometres, Kuwiat 2006, 7 min
Mounira Al Solh, Canteen Stories, Lebanon 2006, 6 min
Anthony Abou Khalife & Jean-Noel Aoun, Dancing Was The Only Way To Avoid Deafness, Lebanon 2006, 5 min
Khaled Hafez, Idlers’ Clip, Egypt 2005, 5 min

...

Saturday 5 May 2007, at 5pm
TRAVELLER'S TALES: 1

This line-up concerns migration, borders, checkpoints, and the politics of travel. Movements across international boundaries can lead one to encounter a storm of political and historical meaning. In this programme the pressures and fantasies of a better life which prompt the desire for migration must negotiate the limits of walls, barriers and occupations, as well as economy and status.

Rowan Al-Faqih, Security Leak, Palestine 2006, 2 min
Sharif Waked, Chic Point, Palestine 2003, 7 min
Maja Bejevic, Le Voyage, Bosnia 2006, 8 min
Hala Elkoussy, From Rome to Rome, Egypt 2006, 16 min
Doa Aly, Chinese Sweet, Chinese Pretty, Egypt 2006, 21 min
Nassim Amaouche & Annemarie Jacir, A Few Crumbs for the Birds, France/Palestine 2005, 29 min
Enas Muthaffar, A World Apart Within 15 Minutes, Palestine, 2006, 3 min

...

Pasolini Pa* Palestine (Ayreen Anastas, 2005)

Saturday 5 May 2007, at 7pm
TRAVELLER'S TALES: 2

Ttwo films that retrace movement, elucidating changes to the concept of making a journey. Ayreen Anastas references and re-imagines Pasolini’s travels across Palestine. Sameh Zoabi marks out a personal passage which contrasts with the larger political forces at play.

Ayreen Anastas, Pasolini Pa* Palestine, Palestine 2005, 51 min

Sameh Zoabi, Be Quiet, Palestine 2005, 18 min



...

Sunday 6 May 2007, at 5pm
BREAKING NEWS

This programme begins to unpick some causes and effects, actions and reactions to conflict, militarisation and bereavement. More specifically the works included address forces brought to bear through propaganda, subliminal messages, instinctual drives and psychological scarring. Although treated separately, seeing these works together may allow connections and responsibilities to become visible that often remain obscure.

Jayce Saloum, Planet of the Arabs, USA 2003, 9 min

Ali Cherri, Untitled, Lebanon 2006, 3 min

Shadi Habib Allah, On-going Tale, Palestine 2005, 5 min

Mahmoud Hojeij, You Can Come In, Lebanon 2007, 27 min

Hisham Jaber, Breaking News, Lebanon 2006, 9 min

Diane Nerwen, The Thief of Bagdad, USA 2003, 5 min

Annemarie Jacir, An Explanation: (and then burn the ashes), Palestine 2005, 6 min



...

Friday 11 May 2007, at 7pm
REALITY CHECK

Reality Check is a selection of videos that restores everyday concerns often ignored during the trauma of a catastrophe: appetite and desire, love and seduction, socialising and gossip. The works investigate the intolerance, prejudice, despair, taboos, pain and fears inherent in human pleasure.


Akram Al-Ashqar, Red, Dead and Mediterranean, Palestine 2006, 1 min
Larissa Sansour, Land Confiscation Order 06/24/T, Palestine 2006, 11 min

Ahmed Khaled, 5th Pound, Egypt 2005, 14 min

Khalil Rabah, The Wall Zone Sales, Palestine 2004, 6 min
Vesna Milicevic, A Picture of Orient, Serbia 2007, 14

Nesrine Khodr & Ghassan Salhab, Lebanon/Senegal 1998, 32 min 

Mohammed Hammad, Call Centre, Egypt 2006, 17 min

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Saturday 12 May 2007, at 5pm
AKRAM ZAATARI: 1

Akram Zaatari is an acclaimed artist and curator based in Beirut, whose work examines the conflicts, images and documents that have shaped the Lebanese condition. He is co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation, Beirut, through which he has developed his research on the photographic history of the Middle East.



Akram Zaatari, Teach Me, Lebanon 1996, 6 min
Akram Zaatari, How I Love You, Lebanon 2001, 29 min

Akram Zaatari, Crazy Of You, Lebanon 1997, 26 min

Akram Zaatari, Baalbeck: The Drift, Lebanon 2001, 22 min

This Day (Akram Zaatari, 2003)

Saturday 12 May 2007, at 7pm
AKRAM ZAATARI: 2

This second programme will be followed by by a conversation with the artist
.

Akram Zaatari, This Day, Lebanon 2003, 86 min
Akram Zaatari, In This House, Lebanon 2005, 30 min


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Sunday 13 May 2007, at 7pm
REPLAY

This programme examines the nature of memory and how it contributes to our personal and historical knowledge. The archiving of testimonies parallels traditions of storytelling, narrative and mutual support through conversation. By considering memories and dreams as sources of information, the works observe the power and influence of recollection on collective consciousness. These fragile socially-held thoughts bring forth strange symbols when disturbed or destroyed.

Shady El Noshokaty, A Voice From Heaven, Egypt 2005, 7 min
Lamia Joreige, Reply, Lebanon 2002, 9 min

Nedim Kufi, Electro I, Iraq 2006, 10 min

Rabih Mroué, Face A / Face B, Lebanon 2002, 10 min

Lina Saneh, I Had a Dream Mom, Lebanon 2006, 45 min

Mario Rizzi, Impermanent, Italy 2006, 15 min

Khosro Khosravi, The Fifth Grade, Iran 2006, 5 min

Omar Amiralay, A Plate of Sardines, Syria 1997, 17 min



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at

Starr Auditorium
Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG
Nearest Tube: Southwark / London Bridge / Blackfriars
MAP OF AREA

Tickets: £5 / £4 concessions
Box Office: 020 7887 8888

www.tate.org.uk