Image Gallery
Ahawa (Hey you!)
“Over the rooftops of Beirut, Nadia’s will is dancing for beauty, peace and emancipation. Lurking in the shadow, a darker will tries to take control”
Background
AHAWA (“Hey you” in Amazigh) is a symbol of freedom where the singer’s disembodied shadow goes wandering around in the city, dancing to the beauty of life… But a danger always lurks around. Should it be her inner fears or an outer enemy? The only chance of overcoming this “monster” is most probably facing it.
Ahawa was produced in 2006, on a small laptop, during the Israeli raid on Lebanon. Sheltered in the mountain, I felt like twisting reality with a pinch of romanticism.
Ghabra, the City
Part of Retrieving Beirut exhibition in K Timber (24 – 29 May 2016)
Retrieving Beirut presented a collectio9n of local artists demonstrating work that pushes conceptualization of Beirut beyond notions of pre-war nostalgia and post-war amnesia.
Presenting a vision of Beirut that accepts overwhelming negative attributes as an indicative part of its past but not as inevitable part of its future.
When the dust settles in, and brings to a stillness our ability to see all the questions that need to be asked. The dust settles in a thick veil, on a city that we love. A city that was meant to bring people together, but instead, it is closing more and more on itself, its people growing indifferent to one another. The city becomes a space where change is either frightening or unwanted, hence forbidden.
Ghrabra (Arabic word for dust) is that city; a city that lost its colors to politics. Only every so often a noise can be heard, voices are raised and unrest follows. Before the dust settles back in, a window flings open, through which questions are asked in the face of an established status quo.
Upon entering the dark room, the viewers were asked to wear a mask for the experience.
Short excerpt
Cheap Girl
“When he bought her, he was sure she had all the right curves in the right places.”
Le Baiser – Chadi Aoun
Under a starry night, somewhere in the city, two shadows find their way in the dark, and quietly meet.
“Le baiser” is considered the first animation short of the Director. Back in 2005, animation in Lebanon was next to not existent. Since, we witnessed an ongoing rise in that Art form, and Lebanese animation is finally taking its place in the Cinema industry.
Chadi Aoun 