keys to the exhibition - es baluard...jesús torné ([email protected]). tel. + 34 971 908...

Es Baluard Press Office: Jesús Torné ([email protected]). Tel. + 34 971 908 201

Keys to the exhibition

1. “Waste Lands” is an experimental exhibition produced by Es Baluard along the lines of displays on today’s reality and it immediate surroundings, based on the Mediterranean that surrounds the Balearic Islands and the countries that border on it – with their unresolved contradictions and crises and political and social transformations – positioned at the intersection of the problems of a world in conflict with a critical stance oriented towards debate.

2. Whereas last year Es Baluard produced an exhibition -“La Mer au Milieu des Terres // Mare Medi Terraneum”, curated by Cecile Bourne-, which reflected on the concept of Mediterranean, this year it is the turn of “Waste Lands”, under the curatorship of Piedad Solans.

3. The exhibition brings together the work of ten artists, all of them women, Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine.

4. Using contemporary creation, the museum seeks to analyse and re-think latent and unresolved crises. In the case of “Waste Lands”, the exhibition mechanism is used to present a narrative threaded together by Piedad Solans on these nearby, latent conflicts, scars and wounds that we must learn to understand and decode.


Technical Specifications

TITLE: «Waste Lands». ARTISTS: Lida Abdul, Tamara Abdul Hadi, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Amina Benbouchta, Gohar Dashti, Rena Effendi, Yara El-Sherbini, Mariam Ghani, Kinda Hassan, Larissa Sansour. CONTENT: 22 works of art made by ten artists among sculptures, installations, videos, photographs, books and graphic novel. The exhibition is complemented with a documentation of artists linked to its thematic. CURATOR: Piedad Solans. PRODUCED BY: Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma. WITH THE COLLABORATION OF: Consell de Mallorca, departament de Cultura, Patrimoni i Esports; Fundación Turismo Palma de Mallorca 365; Norma Editorial. LOCATION: Planta 0. DATES: From 19th March to 19th June of 2016. OPENING: 18th March 2016 at 8.00 pm. RESEARCH: The Es Baluard staff. INSTALLATION: Pep Fluxà Salvà and the Es Baluard staff. DESIGN AND IMAGE: Hastalastantas. LABELING: Julià Homar, ImpresRapit. TEXTS: Piedad Solans. TRANSLATIONS: Carme Llull, Nicola Walters. INSURANCE: Correduría March-JLT. TRANSPORT: Balears Art i Llar. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Piedad Solans, Lida Abdul, Tamara Abdul Hadi, Sabrina Amrani, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Amina Benbouchta, Gohar Dashti, Rena Effendi, Yara El-Sherbini, Mariam Ghani, Kinda Hassan, Larissa Sansour, Eva Shakouri, Silvia Martínez, Jal Hamad, Soren Lind, Joana Maria Pomar, Francisca Niell, Carolina Vicente, José Bermúdez, Galería Sabrina Amrani, Galería La Caja Blanca.


ACTIVITIES:

Visit for members of Amics d’Es Baluard on 18th March 2016 at 7.00 pm with the exhibition curator, Piedad Solans, and the Es Baluard’s director, Nekane Aramburu.

The workshop “Conflictes arreu. Com ens arriben?” (conflicts abroad. How do

we receive them?), from a project of the Es Baluard’s Educational Development team, is inspired in the exhibition. Aimed at children between 6 and 12 years of age, it will be on the Saturdays 2nd, 16th, 23rd and 30th April, 2016 at 11.30 am. Enrolment by calling 971 908 201. Price: 1€ per child. Project in collaboration with Fòrum Comunicació, Educació i Ciutadania de les Illes Balears.

Exhibition produced by:

With the collaboration of:

More information:

Es Baluard Website http://www.esbaluard.org

Es Baluard on Twitter http://twitter.com/EsBaluard

Es Baluard on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/MuseuEsBaluard

Es Baluard on Facebook bit.ly/civ6aT


“Waste Lands” Text by Piedad Solans, the exhibition curator

Waste Lands: devastated areas of land. Through the work of ten artists from countries like Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine, the exhibition broaches the landscapes and the urban, social, anthropological and archaeological environments in countries destroyed and impoverished by wars, the post-colonial inheritance, the predatory voraciousness of the big oil and gas companies and the energy speculation of the world powers, state terrorism and violence and local, political and religious struggles, from the 2000s until the present day. Lands destroyed by powers and historical and structural conflicts, transformed into residual arms depots, camps where excluded populations and refugee families live perpetually, plundered ruins and abandoned places, sterile, intoxicated soil that has become desert, electrified border fences. Usurped lands and pillaged assets, places of blood, crimes and daily attacks. The artists who make up this exhibition have different histories, cultures and narratives. They have witnessed, in their own living memory or that of their relatives and peoples, forced migrations, colonialism, war, exile, refugee and foreigner status. But they also have knowledge of great civilisations, the anthropological wealth of communities, the ancient cities and medinas, the great commercial routes and native and regional intersections, immense spaces and ethnic, anthropological and linguistic diversity. Border zones, migration, translation, trans-nationality, post-colonial subjects and post-conflict conditions are now recurrent concerns in their work. Their status, as Mariam Ghani indicates, is “borderline”: they inhabit the frontier between different worlds. They travel from Iraq to Berlin, from Palestine to Oslo, from Afghanistan to New York, from Cairo, Azerbaijan, Iran or Beirut to London. They were trained – not without tensions – amongst different languages, cultures, generations, countries, experiences. “The multiple identities we claim”, says Ghani, “always exist in a kind of tension, which is of course intensified when the places that contain them enter into conflict”. According to the Russian linguist M. M. Bakhtin, who described the condition of borderline as a confusing position, “the point of coincidence and contention”, this could be the ideal position from which to produce new languages. The ideal position from which to make art as outsiders and simultaneously as observers and participants. In their videos and photographs Gohar Dashti, Rena Effendi, Mariam Ghani and Tamara Abdul Hadi set forth the consequences wars and abuse of economic power have on lands and populations, whilst Larissa Sansour and Yara El-Sherbini, with a certain amount of irony, denounce the “western” topics and occupation of living space and territory, conflict zones and the need for a home state through sculptures, publications, performances and videos. The criticism of dictatorships and archaisms and the call for freedom through artistic, cultural or curative practices is tackled simultaneously by Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Amina Benbouchta and Lida Abdul in video and installations, and the ideological and spectacular role of the communications media and of the “policies” of terror is revealed by Kinda Hassan, as is the solitude of people in inhospitable, desolate environments in the videos and photographs of Gohar Dashti.


However, these artists do not consent to being victims. Using their borderline positions and their experience of migration and conflicts, they show the inexhaustible stamina of their countries to remain, adapt and replace. They denounce violence and injustice, the exploitation and neglect of vulnerable people, the destruction of their cultures and their lands by local and world powers. And they show the inexhaustible capacity of resilience people have to survive, in solidarity with each other, in adverse conditions.


Biography of Piedad Solans

Doctor in History of Art, researcher and exhibitions curator. Carmen de Burgos Award Feminism for the article Feminismo y poder, 1996. Author of the books Accionismo vienés y Arte y resistencia y de ensayos como Mitologías posmodernas, Lo sublime posmoderno, Mitos y delitos de las nuevas tecnologías, Estética, nihilismo y Wonderland, Un mundo en ruinas, El espectáculo de las imágenes, Mujeres en el Islam. Feminismos, políticas, exilios. Collaborator of the art magazines Lápiz and Artecontexto, she’s published in others like Archipiélago, Kalías, Claves de Razón Práctica, El Viejo Topo, Sileno y La Balsa de la Medusa. Editor of Pensar, construir, habitar and co-editor of Mujeres en el sistema del arte en España. Director of the seminars “Arte y estética”, “Arte y psicoanàlisis”, “Feminismos, políticas y teorías 1/2”, “Lo que dicen las mujeres. Textos, lenguajes, narrativas”. Guest speaker in universities, museums and art centres like Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid), Caixa Forum (Madrid), Casa Árabe (Madrid), Colegio de arquitectos (Málaga), UNED (Ávila, Madrid), Feria Estampa, Madrid), Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca, Fundació Sa Nostra (Palma), among others. Curator and coordinator of projects of Eva Lootz, Marina Abramovic, Paloma Navares, Democracia, Magdalena Jetelová, Georges Rousse, Mariam Ghani, Tadashi Kawamata, among others, with exhibitions like “Espacios fronterizos”, “In Between”, “Nudos” o “Contra el público”. She’s been co-curator at the Biennale of Sao Paolo/Valencia 2007 with “ANAMNESIS. Políticas de la memoria”, and guest curator at Premi Sotheby's/ Pilar Miró, Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca, 2010. Curator of international artists exhibitions like “ARQUITECTURAS EXCÉNTRICAS”, “CONTRAVIOLENCIAS. Prácticas artísticas contra la agresión a las mujeres”, “LA BIBLIOTECA Y EL SABER. Archivos, mutaciones, constelaciones” al Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea de Sant Sebastià and Fundació Sa Nostra, Palma Mallorca, “WASTE LANDS” (Es Baluard, Palma Mallorca) and “TECNOLOGÍAS DE LA VIOLENCIA”, at the Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona, 2016. She’s been member of many juries, among them one for the election of curator for the Pavilion of Catalunya and Balears at the Venice Biennale, 2013.


Biography of the artists (in Spanish)

Lida Abdul (Kābul, Afganistán, 1973) Graduada en Bellas Artes por la Universidad de California en Irvine, vive y trabaja en la actualidad entre Kābul (Afganistán) y Los Ángeles (EE.UU.), tras residir en Alemania e India como refugiada a raíz de la invasión soviética en Afganistán. A través del videoarte, la performance, la fotografía y las instalaciones, su obra reúne las tradiciones estéticas que influyeron en la cultura y arte afganos, para tratar la destrucción, la pérdida de raíces o la relación entre la identidad y la arquitectura. La devastación del paisaje y la resistencia de la población en países en conflicto son su fuente de inspiración evocando en sus trabajos la supervivencia y el camino para la recuperación. Ha expuesto en la Bienal de Venecia (2005), en Kunsthalle de Viena (2005), Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem (2006), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2007) Indianapolis Museum of Art (2008), CAC Málaga (2013), Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, París (2014) entre otros, y ha participado en diversos festivales en España, Méjico, Alemania y Uzbekistán. Su obra forma parte de colecciones internacionales como The Museum of Modern Art de Nueva York, Fonds régional d’art contemporain de Lorraine (Metz), Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma, entre otros. Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.lidaabdul.com Entrevista de Sara Raza a Lida Abdul en Ibraaz: http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/43 Lida Abdul en el Brooklyn Museum: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/lida-abdul Lida Abdul en Es Baluard: http://www.esbaluard.org/es/colleccio/artistes/26/abdul-lida Artículo revista ArtAsiaPacific, dic 2013: http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/86/LidaAbdul


Tamara Abdul Hadi (Abu Dhabi, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, 1980) De origen iraquí, la artista creció en Montreal, Canadá, donde se graduó en Bellas Artes. Tras su regreso a Dubai, trabaja para la agencia Reuters -como fotoperiodista y fotoeditora (2005)-, el New York Times (2008) y como freelance para varias publicaciones como The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal y The Financial Times, entre otras. Sus proyectos fotográficos abordan la injusticia social y la deconstrucción de estereotipos. Participa en 2009 en un programa de enseñanza de fotografía para mujeres de la UNRWA (Agencia de las Naciones Unidas para los refugiados de Palestina) y es miembro fundador de Rawiya Collective, un colectivo de fotógrafos de Oriente Medio, y de The Medium, grupo de artistas interdisciplinarios independientes. Su obra ha sido expuesta en el Gulf Photo Plus, (Dubai, 2011), Mark Hachem Gallery (Beirut, 2012), Musée du quai Branly, (París, 2013), Modern Museum, (Hungría, 2013), Malmö Konsthall, (Malmö, Suecia, 2013) y en el Institute du Monde Arabe, (París, 2012 y 2015). Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.tamarabdulhadi.com/ Fotografías de la artista en Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/29/city-of-the-dead-cairo_n_6044616.html Vídeo de la exposición “Photoquai” donde entrevistan a la artista: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afN_kyx306I Entrevista a la artista en Middle East Revised: http://middleeastrevised.com/2014/08/14/interview-tamara-abdul-hadi-a-different-middle-east/ Entrevista de la artista en The National Multimedia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZxO1wUtWh8


Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Moscú, 1977) Trabaja y vive en Casablanca, Marruecos. Graduada por la Escuela Nacional Superior de Artes de Cergy-Pontoise. Es la hija de Hassen Bouabdellah, director de cine y escritor argelino, y Malika Dorbani, ex-directora del Museo de Bellas Artes de Argel. Creció en la capital argelina hasta los 16 años cuando se estableció en Francia con su familia. Sus obras juegan con la dualidad cultural y los desequilibrios, así como la fusión cultural y la capacidad de trascender las fronteras. En este mundo donde las imágenes están por todos lados, realiza sus obras teniendo en cuenta los elementos que esconden más de lo que muestran, su intención de convencer de que las cosas no se ven como deberían ser, que invitan a transgredir los límites. Las obras de Zoulikha Bouabdellah han sido expuestas en el Museo Kunst Palast (Düsseldorf, 2004), Museo de Arte Mori (Tokio, 2006), Moderna Museet (Estocolmo, 2006), Museo de Arte Moderno Fundación Ludwig (Viena, 2006), Museo de Brooklyn (Nueva York, 2007), entre otras instituciones. Bouabdellah ha participado en varias bienales y festivales como la Bienal de Fotografía Africana de Bamako (2003), la Bienal de Venecia (2007), y la Trienal de Aichi (2010). Sus obras se encuentran en las colecciones del Centre Georges Pompidou (París), Museo Árabe Mathaf de Arte Moderno (Doha), Museo de Arte Moderno Fundación Ludwig (Viena), Mead Art Museum (Amherst), Fundación Sindika Dokolo (Luanda) y la Colección Enrico Navarra (París). Zoulikha Bouabdellah ha recibido numerosas distinciones, incluyendo el Premio Abraaj (2009), el Premio Meurice de Arte Contemporáneo (2008) y la residencia Villa Medicis Hors les Murs (2005). Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.zoulikhabouabdellah.com/#!about-zoulikha-bouabdellah/c24vq Metrópolis: Miradas de mujer 1. 2012 http://www.rtve.es/television/20120316/miradas-mujeres/507766.shtml Web de la Galería Sabrina Amrani: http://www.sabrinaamrani.com/galeria/artistas/zoulikha Galería Sabrina Amrani en “Art Dubai 2014”: http://www.sabrinaamrani.com/galeria/exposiciones/prev/Sabrina-Amrani-at-Art-Dubai-2014 Vídeo de la exposición en Harold t’Kint Fine Arts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMfkkJefh0U Vídeo entrevista a la artista en “Photo Miami”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItRfm4DQawA


Amina Benbouchta (Casablanca, Marruecos, 1963) Vive y trabaja entre París y Casablanca. Tras graduarse en Estudios de Oriente Medio y Antropología por la Universidad McGill en Montreal, realiza diversos talleres de dibujo, litografía y grabado en París, ciudad en la que ejerció de auditora en la Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes de París entre 1988 y 1990. Sus inquietudes artístico-culturales la llevaron a crear y dirigir la revista de moda y cultura Les Alignés en la década de los 90. En 2005, cofundó el Colectivo 212, una organización dedicada a defender y promover el surgimiento del arte contemporáneo en Marruecos. El trabajo de Amina Benbouchta tiene sus raíces en la exploración de los límites de la pintura, transformando conceptos y observaciones en imagen, escultura e instalación. La diversidad de los medios que explora, permite un completo análisis de la compleja estructura social de la vida contemporánea. Desde 1986, su trabajo ha sido presentado en la Bienal de El Cairo (1993), Instituto Francés de Casablanca (1995), Museo Nacional de la Mujer y las Artes (Washington DC, EE.UU. 1997), Museo Kerava (Finlandia, 2003), Museo de Marrakech (2004), Casa Árabe (Madrid, 2008), Bienal de Alejandría (2009), Feria de Arte de Bruselas (2010)y Marrakech Art Fair (2010), Docks Art Fair Lyon (2011), Galería Artae Lyon (2011), Bienal de Lyon (2011), Feria de Arte de Dubai (2014), Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Viena (2014), Museo de Mohamed VI de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Rabat (2014) y Museo de la fotografía y artes visuales de Marrakech (2015). Recursos: Web de la Galería Sabrina Amrani: http://www.sabrinaamrani.com/galeria/artistas/Amina-Benbouchta Artículo sobre la artista en Islamic Arts Magazine, 2013 http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/down_the_rabbit_hole_by_amina_benbouchta/


Gohar Dashti (Ahvaz, Irán, 1980) Vive y trabaja en Teherán. Gohar Dashti obtuvo su M.A. de Fotografía en la Universidad de Bellas Artes de Teherán en 2005. La fotografía y el vídeo son los medios utilizados en su obra, desarrollada principalmente en series. Su práctica artística se desarrolla en torno a las cuestiones sociales con especial referencia a la historia y la cultura en la sociedad moderna, la memoria colectiva. Los efectos del conflicto bélico entre Irán e Irak que aun perduran, la situación de la mujer en la sociedad iraní actual, o el drama de la migración son algunos de los temas planteados en su trabajo. Ha expuesto sus obras en museos, festivales y bienales: Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (Tampa, Florida, 2016), Mohsen Gallery (Teherán, 2015), Victoria and Albert Museum (Londres, 2015), Sharjah Art Museum (Sharjah, Emiratos Árabes, 2014), Mori Art Museum (Tokio, 2013) White Project Gallery (París, 2012), Devi Art Foundation, (Gurgaon, India, 2011), Queen Gallery (Toronto, 2011), Musée du quai Branly, Paris, 2009). Ha participado en residencias artísticas y obtenido becas como el premio DAAD (Berlín, 2009-2011), The Delfina Foundation (Londres, 2011), Visiting Arts (Bradford/London, 2009) e International Arts & Artists (Art Bridge) (Washington DC, 2008). Su obra está presente en las colecciones del Victoria and Albert Museum (Londres), Mori Art Museum (Tokio), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City), National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.) y Kadist Art Foundation (París). Recursos: Web de la artista: http://gohardashti.com/ Conversación con la artista, “ParisPhoto Platform”, París, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqCGUJWljyc Delfina Foudation. Programa Residencia: http://delfinafoundation.com/in-residence/gohar-dashti/


Rena Effendi (Baku, Azerbaiján, 1977) Vive y trabaja en El Cairo, Egipto. Estudió en el Azerbaijan State Institut of Languages. Su obra denuncia la situación social y ambiental que viven países como Azerbaiyán tras la ocupación soviética y con las actuales dictaduras de gobiernos y empresas. Trabaja para periódicos y revistas de renombre internacional como NewsWeek y Sunday Times Magazine y ha publicado su obra en el International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Time Magazine, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Courrier International y Le Monde. Effendi se ha centrado en los últimos años en la región postsoviética, así como en Turquía e Irán, como, por ejemplo, el conflicto de 2008 entre Rusia y Georgia, las víctimas de la heroína y el tráfico sexual en Kirguistán y las vidas ocultas de los jóvenes en Teherán. Su trabajo refleja, inicialmente, los efectos de las industrias petroleras en la población; como resultado de ello, siguió un oleoducto de 1.700 kilómetros a través de Georgia y Turquía, recogiendo historias a lo largo del camino. Este trabajo de seis años se publicó en 2009 en su primer libro Pipe Dreams: A Chronicle of Lives Along the Pipeline. En 2012 publicó su segundo libro Liquid Land, una narrativa visual lírica, donde trata el tema de la fragilidad y el deterioro del medio ambiente de Baku, la ciudad donde Effendi nació y se crió. Ganadora de numerosos premios como el "Fifty Crows", el Getty Images Editorial en 2009 y el Premio Príncipe Claus Fund para el Desarrollo Cultural en 2011, Effendi fue preseleccionada para el Premio Global Prix Pictet de Fotografía y Sostenibilidad en 2012; en 2014 recibió el 2º y 3º premio en las categorías de Observed Portrait Stories y Observed Portrait Single del World Press Photo. Ha expuesto en la Galería Saatchi, (Londres, 2012), en el Istambul Modern Art Museum (Estambul, 2013 y 2014) y en la 52 Bienal de Venecia (Venecia, 2007). Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.refendi.com/ Web de “World Press Photo”: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/people/rena-effendi Web del Premio Prix Pictet: http://www.prixpictet.com/portfolios/power-shortlist/rena-effendi/


Yara El-Sherbini (1978, Derby, Reino Unido) Reside y trabaja en Londres. De padre egipcio y madre caribeña, es licenciada en Bellas Artes por la University of the West of England, Bristol, y Máster de Bellas Artes en la Slade School of Arts (University College London). A través de su ácido sentido del humor y la fluidez con la cual utiliza distintos lenguajes como la performance, el vídeo y la instalación, explora el conocimiento popular, subvierte los entornos sociales y la infraestructura urbana. Utiliza el humor, no como herramienta para criticar o ridiculizar, sino como recurso para conectar con su público y entablar un proceso de diálogo-reflexión al margen de las limitaciones de lo políticamente correcto. Inventa nuevos lenguajes y formatos que le permiten un diálogo más directo, fluido y provocador con el público. Artista en residencia en 2011 en ZKM (Karlsruhe, Alemania) con motivo del proyecto The Global Contemporary y en 2012 en la Hayward Gallery de Londres y el programa Wide Open School, su obra ha sido expuesta en la Tate Britain (Londres, 2006), National Portrait Gallery (Londres, 2008), IKON Gallery (Birmingham, 2008), CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporània (Barcelona, 2008), David Roberts Art Foundation (Londres, 2009), The New Art Exchange (Nottingham, 2014), Bienal de Venecia (2015), Museum of Contemporary Art (Santa Barbara, 2015) y Modern Art Oxford (2015). Ha sido galardonada con el Research and Development Fund: Arts Council of England (2002), Arts and Humanities Research Board (2005) y Arts Council England Touring Grant (2009), entre otros. Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.yaraelsherbini.com/ Canal de la artista en Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/102723537 Web de la Galería La Caja Blanca: http://www.lacajablanca.com/artistas/artistas_yarael-sherbini.html


Mariam Ghani (Nueva York, 1978) Vive y trabaja en Brooklyn, Nueva York. Artista, escritora y cineasta, descendiente de padre afgano y madre libanesa, es graduada en Literatura Comparada por la Universidad de Nueva York y Máster de Bellas Artes de la Escuela de Artes Visuales de Nueva York. A través de diversas disciplinas —vídeo, instalación, fotografía, texto y performance— Ghani se centra en la investigación de cómo se reconstruye el pasado en el presente, y cómo se construye el presente para el futuro, a través del cambio de las narrativas públicas y privadas. Su trabajo aborda temas sociopolíticos y antropológicos como la identidad del sujeto, la emigración y los derechos humanos. Ha expuesto en el Queens Museum of Art (Queens, Nueva York, 2016), Saint Louis Art Museum (Missouri, 2015), CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (2014), Rotterdam Film Festival (2013), Documenta 13 (Kassel, 2012), Museum of Modern Art (Nueva York, 2011), Sharjah Biennial (UAE, 2009), National Gallery (Londres, 2008), Tate Modern (Londres, 2007), Brooklyn Museum (2005), Liverpool Biennial (2004). Recientemente, sus textos han sido publicados en Creative Time Reports, Foreign Policy, Ibraaz, Triple Canopy, Manifesta Journal, entre otros. Ha recibido numerosos premios, becas y subvenciones. Es profesora en CUNY (City University of New York) y es artista visitante en el Schell Center for International Human Rights en Yale Law School. Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.mariamghani.com/ Canal de la artista en Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ghanimariam Entrevista en The New York Times, 2015: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/nyregion/mariam-ghani-a-brooklyn-artist-whose-father-leads-afghanistan.html?_r=0


Kinda Hassan (Beirut, 1984) Vive y trabaja en El Cairo. Graduada en Bellas Artes en la Academia Libanesa de Bellas Artes ALBA, completa sus estudios en la École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts (ENSBA) en Francia, AudioTakes Studios en Líbano y el Instituto Statale D’Arte en Italia. Hassan trabaja con el vídeo y el sonido, entre otras disciplinas, como la fotografía; emplea estos lenguajes para captar la realidad en un acto de denuncia, revelando lo que no se suele ver. El eje central de su trabajo es mostrar como la política y la religión se manifiestan en la cotidianeidad. Trata de explorar las fronteras entre la ideología, los conceptos y el cuerpo humano en su día a día individual. En 2008 fue cofundadora de la plataforma de música regional arábica “eka3”. Ha expuesto su obra en numerosos festivales locales e internacionales y galerías de arte que incluyen Werkleitz Festival en Halle (2013), MEASAF (Middle east sound and arts festival in Athens) en Atenas (2010), Metropolis Cinema en Beirut (2009), Al-Riwaq Gallery en Baréin (2009), City Of Women en Liubliana (2008), Transmediale Festival (Berlín, 2007), Fair Play Festival (Berlín, 2006), entre otros. Recursos: Web de la artista: http://kindahassan.com/ Canal de Kinda Hassan en Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user12537927


Larissa Sansour (Jerusalén, 1973) Vive y trabaja en Londres. Estudió Bellas Artes en Londres, Nueva York y Copenhague. Su trabajo, multidisciplinar, discurre en torno al diálogo político actual a través de diferentes lenguajes como el vídeo, la fotografía, la instalación, el formato libro e Internet. El eje central de su obra es el enfrentamiento entre la ficción y la realidad y la dicotomía de pertenecer y ser extraído del mismo trozo de terreno. Su trabajo incluye referencias y detalles de géneros tan diversos como la ciencia ficción, el «spaghetti western» y las películas de terror que convergen con la política de Oriente Medio y los problemas sociales para crear intrincados universos paralelos en los que un nuevo sistema de valores puede ser decodificado. Sus exposiciones individuales más recientes incluyen el Kulturhuset de Estocolmo (2010), DEPO en Estambul (2011), Photographic Center de Copenhage (2012), Turku Art Museum de Finlandia (2013), Lawrie Shabibi de Dubai (2013) y Wolverhampton Art Gallery (Reino Unido, 2014), entre otros centros. Su trabajo se ha mostrado en las bienales de Busan, Corea del Sur (2008), Estambul (2009) y Liverpool (2010). Su obra se encuentra en colecciones públicas y privadas como Louis Vuitton Collection (Francia), Wolverhampton Art Gallery (Inglaterra), Museum of Contemporary Art (Dinamarca), Barjeel Art Foundation (Emiratos Árabes), Salsali Private Museum, Dubai (Emiratos Árabes Unidos). Recursos: Web de la artista: http://www.larissasansour.com/ Canal de la artista en Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/larissasansour Metrópolis, Larissa Sansour, 2014: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/metropolis/metropolis-larissa-sansour/2463987/ Artículo sobre su obra Nation State, revista ArtAsiaPacific, dic 2013: http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/86/LarissaSansour


Synopsis and technical specifications of the works in the exhibition Lida Abdul (Kābul, Afganistan, 1973) War Games (What I Saw) 2006 16-mm Film transferred to DVD, colour, sound Duration: 5’ Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma War Games has its roots in the devastation of war, survival and the sublimation of recovery. Traces of mysterious, forgotten histories, the Afghan monuments appear like images from an oneiric landscape, simultaneously real and unreal. For Lida Abdul, recognising a ruin in a country at war, even picking up a simple stone, means breathing in a culture that has been positioned in the void. In her videos men and women recognise this destiny, as though the repetition of certain acts and gestures awakened them from a dream. Tamara Abdul Hadi (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 1980) Hebron 2009 Colour photograph 100 x 150 cm Courtesy of the artist A metal fence to divide, keep watch and “protect” in Hebron, Palestine, built by Israel between the Israeli settlements and the ancient city of Hebron, where plastic remains, waste and rubbish accumulates. Seven 2010 Set of 4 colour photographs 66 x 100 cm each one Courtesy of the artist Seven houses belonging to the Palestinian family of Abu Eid, in the town of Lyd, Israel, were destroyed and reduced to rubble when Israeli soldiers attacked the neighbourhood in December of 2010. Their inhabitants were forced to live in tents surrounded by rubble beside their former homes. War Remains 2012 Set of 4 colour photographs 100 x 150 cm each one Courtesy of the artist War machine cemetery in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, where used missiles, the remains of American tanks, weapons and military waste accumulate, shaping desolate mountains of scrap metal that invade and transform the ancient landscape and pollute the earth. Amina Benbouchta (Casablanca, Morocco, 1963) Piège à loup 2014 Moroccan cushion and a trap for animals 25 x 60 x 60 cm Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid The installation Piège à loup consists of a trap for animals on a traditional Moroccan cushion. It refers to power and corruption, and also to the submission and powerlessness of women or the people, trapped in the symbolic place of power. It evokes prison, torture and the vulnerability of people in the face of an archaic machinery of restraint, suffering and confinement.


Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Moscow, 1977) “In this world, where images are everywhere, I produce a series of works taking into account the elements that conceal more than they show. This is the deepest sense of my work, which is intended to convince people that things are not seen as they should be, that they elude and escape from a form of interpretation. How can one do things differently when, as information goes instantly from one part of the world to another, the question of understanding and meaning becomes an important issue: the problem of power and domination?” (Zoulikha Bouabdellah) Set me free from my chains 2012 Installation. Wood, chains and padlocks 206 x 15.5 x 7 cm Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid “Set me free of my chains” is a famous phrase in the Arab/Muslim world, made popular by the Egyptian singer Oum Kelthoum in a song entitled Al Attlal (The Ruins). It symbolises the cry for freedom of a woman imprisoned in love and desire, and acquired feminist and revolutionary connotations in a 1950s Egypt which struggled for an Arab Revolution. Suspended by chains, the phrase has become a slogan of the masses, meaning “the ultimate step between the condition of the oppressed and the awareness of their condition, prior to all change, be it individual or collective ". Les couteaux 2013 Six handicraft knives Dimensions variable Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid The piece Les Couteaux (2013) deals with the metaphor of beauty and strangeness. Between the disturbing and the familiar. For Zoulikha Bouabdellah, the truth is stranger than fiction, and reality appears when we face up to the strange. Its revelation arises in the play of symbols and contrasts: Les Couteaux represents long knives with plant forms, alloys of knife and flower, calligraphies in which one part cuts, shaves, slits, whilst the other extends, grows, emerges. Thus, “Restlessness appears on the edge of these plants, where the act of death becomes an integral part of the act of life. In short, existence merely hangs from a thread.” (Z. B.) Algol 2011 Work in progress. Leds and a rotating light with a sequencer Dimensions variable Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid The Algol installation is a schematic representation of the Perseus constellation. The name Algol comes from the Arabic term “Ras al-Ghul”, literally the demon’s head. The ancient Greeks saw in this star the eye of Medusa, a creature with a head covered in snakes whose gaze turned anyone who dared to challenge her into stone. Made up of revolving lights and luminous beacons, “Algol represents a mythological reading of tyranny, a work in progress to devise a map of dead stars, fallen dictators brought down by the wave of change in the Arab world” (Z. B.)


Gohar Dashti (Ahvaz, Iran, 1980) Slow Decay 2010 HD Video, single-channel, colour, silent, Duration: 6’ 46’’ Projection of 8 photographs Courtesy of the artist Slow Decay refers to the wounds and erosion of a landscape in which, like a skin, blood and gangrene spread over the entire space until inundating it. The photographs reveal the desperation and vital illness which slowly and invisibly consumes people in this environment. Stateless 2014-2015 Projection of 8 colour photographs Courtesy of the artist “In every place in the world, the devastation of wars, massacres, oppression, diseases, death, are the cause of widespread disorders with an unimaginable end. When disasters force people to emigrate, where will they be welcomed with open arms? In the hope of a better life, they struggle in an endless limbo, in a strange place with no identity that does not belong to them”. (Gohar Dashti)

Rena Effendi (Baku, Azerbaijan, 1977) Pipe Dreams. A Chronicle of Lives along the Pipelines 2010 Book Rena Effendi documents conflicts, misery and the impoverishment of the populations in areas through which oil pipelines are conducted and channelled in countries like Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The chronic anthropological disparagement and ecological degradation of the land are caused by the policies of unscrupulous governments, whilst the oligarchies become disproportionately wealthy. Liquid Land 2012 Book Photographs of the lands of Absheron (Salty Waters), Azerbaijan, and the surrounding area, with urban decadence and the local people living amidst the chaos produced by industrial pollution. The photographs show one of the most polluted areas in the world, near Baku, the main city, where petroleum vapours emanate from the earth and oil invades the surface of the soil, turning it into liquid. (Publisher: Schilt Publishing)

Yara El-Sherbini (1978, Derby, United Kingdom) Buzzwords. Current 2014 Metal, electrical resistance and a plinth 75 x 35 x 55 cm Courtesy of Yara El-Sherbini & Galería La Caja Blanca


Buzzwords. Resistence 2014 Metal, electrical resistance and a plinth 75 x 35 x 55 cm Courtesy of Yara El-Sherbini & Galería La Caja Blanca Buzzwords. Current and Buzzwords. Resistence form part of a series of participative sculptures that create an electric charge with a sound and a light when a metal is touched by another metal. They are made in the light of the historical and current situations in the Middle East, where the relationships between the power of the people and the people in power have created a period of radical change. The electric charge is the flow that runs through the metal which, when touched, forms an electrical circuit. The End of Conflict in the Middle East 2016 Participatory site-specific piece for Es Baluard. Book, Audio, Hole Puncher and a digital print Courtesy of Yara el-Sherbini and Galería La Caja Blanca The conflict in the Middle East, which has lasted over sixty years with no end in sight, goes back to 1947 with the end of British colonialism and the UN resolution on the creation of the Partition Plan for Palestine. It gave rise to the birth of the State of Israel, the occupation and plundering of the Palestinian territories and the mass exodus of the population, as well as the Arab-Israeli wars of Israel against Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, the emergence of the PLO and the Palestinian Resistance in successive Intifadas. Curated by the Victoria & Albert Museum of London as part of the initiative by the National Art Library to create an Archive of Turkish, Arab and Iranian art, the artist gave a performance in which she invited the participants to meet in the museum library, perforating holes in every page of the book The End of Conflict in the Middle East. In a new production by Yara El-Sherbini for Es Baluard, the performance is presented as a participative action in which the materials from the work are displayed and the public receives the instructions on perforating the book through an audio. Mariam Ghani (New York, 1978) Kabul 2, 3, 4 2002 – 2007 Three-channel SD Video, colour, sound, NTSC, 4:3 Duration: 13’ Courtesy of the artist & Ryan Lee Gallery, New York On different journeys to Afghanistan, Mariam Ghani has videoed the visible reconstructions of the city after the conflicts of the war and the military occupation by the western powers. One trip every year in which the camera bore witness, moving through the places, the seismic commotions of the city and the surroundings and its swift, radical changes: the flow of over two million refugees who returned; the new real estate values; the constructions and roads; the growth of a new economy with international workers; the political cycles of idealism and disillusionment which produced graffiti, signs and other marks on the surfaces of the city.


Blind Crossing 2000 SD Video, colour, sound, NTSC, 4:3 Duration: 2’ 31’’ Courtesy of the artist and Ryan Lee Gallery, New York The video, in the metaphor of the sea, alludes to the emigration and forced exile of the population of countries in conflict in the USA, and their arrival at the port of Chelsea Piers, where people are made to wait before entering the country. Made in 2000, Blind Crossing bears witness, fifteen years on, to the endless drama of exile in refugees from the war in Syria and from countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Eritrea, who are forced to leave their countries, risking their lives, and retained on the borders of Europe. The voice of Mariam Ghani recites texts from Middle Passages, by the Caribbean poet and theorist Kamau Brathwaite. Kinda Hassan (Beirut, 1984) Yet Another Shot 2005 Video, colour, sound, PAL Duration: 5’ 30’’ Collection of the artist “Yet Another Shot is a video made on the day when Jubran Tueiny, a Lebanese parliamentarian and journalist, was assassinated. It shows images of TV reporters informing on the sad event, filmed at the site of the explosion. (...) Nowadays an assassination in Lebanon can be as mundane as driving a car. I thought that, by showing the reaction of society on the one hand, and the repetitions and mistakes of the reporters on the other, I could transmit a message to a public that is too familiarized with catastrophes, the way the media represent them. How often have we seen the repetition of the same, interminable scenes? When do the disasters become real disasters?” (Kinda Hassan) Eight Days and War 2006 Photocollage 132 x 128 cm Courtesy of the artist Kinda Hassan deals with surviving war in the everyday life of a family in Lebanon, during the 33 days the war with Israel lasted in 2006. A life in which war is intensely present through the voyeuristic consumption of images and news, political conversations and the struggle against boredom. For the artist, Eight Days and War describes a version of normality in times of war, consumed mainly through media images and everyday conversations. It makes for an introspection in the emerging tension of being in a war, but without touching it, of living in safety but without having the complete normality of everyday life. An amalgam of emotions arises in a long spectrum, ranging from guilt to disaffection, from focus to scatteredness, from commitment to boredom, from frenzy to inaction.


Larissa Sansour (Jerusalem, 1973) Nation Estate 2012 Video, colour, sound Duration: 9’ 02’’ Colour photograph, 150 x 100 cm Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid The installation Nation Estate offers a dystopic, humoristic view of the situation in the Middle East. Mixing digital imagery, processed by computer, with live actors and electronic sounds, it explores a vertical solution for a Palestinian state as a nation, where people finally attain a certain level of technological life and of “high standing”, in the style of the capitalist countries in the West. Tank 2003 Video, colour, sound Duration: 6’ Courtesy of Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid The video deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It shows a group of peace activists trying to halt the advance of a tank in the occupied territories. It is accompanied by electronic music. At the end of the video, the tank points its cannon at the head of one of the activists. But instead of shooting, the tank stops and begins to retreat. The Novel of Nonel and Vovel 2009 Graphic novel Collaboration with Oreet Ashery Ashery and Sansour have created a graphic novel that raises questions on the nature of authority and politics, collaborative processes and artistic agencies. It offers an eye-opening view of Palestine. It presents a mixture of art, politics, games, science fiction, stories and other experiments, hitting out and countering ideas, stereotypes and misconceptions on the Middle East. Although humorous in its approach, the book poses uncomfortable and rigorous questions. All this assumes particular importance considering that these artists from both sides of the region’s divide.


Images selected

Yara El-Sherbini, Buzzwords. Current, 2014 Metal, electrical resistance and a plinth, 75 x 35 x 55 cm Courtesy of Yara El-Sherbini and Galería La Caja Blanca © of the work: Yara El-Sherbini, 2016 Yara El-Sherbini, Buzzwords. Resistance, 2014 Metal, electrical resistance and a plinth, 75 x 35 x 55 cm Courtesy of Yara El-Sherbini and Galería La Caja Blanca © of the work: Yara El-Sherbini, 2016

Gohar Dashti, Stateless, 2014-2015. Projection of 8 colour photographs Courtesy of the artist. © of the work: Gohar Dashti, 2016

Amina Benbouchta, Piège à loup, 2014. Moroccan cushion and a trap for animals, 25 x 60 x 60 cm. Courtesy of the Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid. © of the work: Amina Benbouchta, 2016.

Lida Abdul, War Games (what I saw), 2006. 16-mm Film transferred to DVD, colour, sound. Duration: 5’. Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma. © of the work: Lida Abdul, 2016.


Mariam Ghani, Blind Crossing, 2000 SD Video, colour, sound, NTSC, 4:3. Duration: 2’ 31’’ Courtesy of the artista and Ryan Lee Gallery, New York © of the work: Mariam Ghani, 2016

Larissa Sansour, Nation Estate, 2012 Video, colour, sound. Duration: 9’ 02’’ Colour photograph, 150 x 100 cm Courtesy of the Galería Sabrina Amrani, Madrid © of the work: Larissa Sansour, 2016

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