Wael Shawky - I am Hymns of the New Temples
WAEL SHAWKY
I am Hymns of the New Temples
Karantina, August 31, 2023 – February 17, 2024
beirut
Press text
The surrealistic hybridity of the film is translated throughout the exhibition. The metallic Pompeian red walls turn the space into an infinite skyscape, creating an atmosphere that accentuates the grotesque grimacing faces of the masks borrowed from the set, and the phantasmagorical colors of the paintings which depict a flow of subjective, fictitious ideas around this morphing of historical-cultural material. The works metaphorically reference mankind’s inherent need to explain and understand its own origins: borrowed, repurposed, appropriated, transposed, retold, the same stories of creation, destruction, punishment of people by gods, renewal and ultimate rebirth can often be found in many religions or societies founding myths, modified to fit a particular point of view.
I am Hymns of the New Temples
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Video file
Wael Shawky, I am Hymns of the New Temples, 2023, Excerpt, 4k video, sound, color, 57 minutes 43 seconds. Commissioned by Pompeii Archaeological Park as part of Pompeii Commitment. Archeological Matters (Collectio). Winner of the public notice PAC 2020 - promoted by Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea of Ministero della Cultura
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