By Rana Nasser Eddin | Project Member
We have had an eventful few months. We opened three new shows, rounded off the third issue of our online publication, launched another round of residencies, and had many new collaborations.
In November, we opened three new shows. In Gallery 1, we had a group show, Maintain. For the show, we invited 4 collectives to reflect on their experiences and practices of curating in Beirut, as well as their legacies and histories. The participating collectives are Haven for Artists, Heya Collective, Qorras, and Yalla Bala Manyake. We think of the resulting exhibition as a reflection on the challenges of collectivity, as well as the terms and conditions along which collectivities might be formed. Haven for Artists is a cultural feminist organization based in Beirut, Lebanon, working at the intersection of art and activism. Heya Collective is a practice based research project from and about women in the Middle East who make experimental sound and music. Qorras is a group working on collecting, producing and disseminating queer and trans feminist knowledge on issues of gender and sexuality. Yalla Bala Manyake is a collective of 4 women whose practice consists in putting together independent exhibitions in abandoned locations in Beirut.
In Gallery 2, we opened a solo show for Rheim Alkadhi. Alkadhi spent 2 months in residence in Beirut, a city she was already familiar with from time spent years ago, but a city that is no longer the same. Alkadhi has been moving through neighborhoods and out, to peripheries and margins, temporary abodes and shelters, places of waiting and departure. She shifts scales, from geopolitical – as she travels along borders of global migration and trafficking – to much smaller, inside homes, work and marketplaces engaging people in intimate conversation and exchange. She a-mends and enables degraded objects, folding and unfolding them, holding and suspending their meanings.
Finally on the roof we opened Scare Tactics, an exhibition of scarecrows and talismans of protection for our growing community garden. In August, we put out a call for scarecrows that would have the ability to fend off birds, but more importantly to protect against the much larger and more vicious scavengers that surround us. We selected 7 proposals. The works will be permanently installed in our community garden.
We also had some exciting news in October. Two years ago, we were approached by Kunsthaus Dresden to invite 4 artists for their exhibition, Northeast Southwest. It came at a time where things seemed even more dire than they did now and we thought to involve as many friends as possible. BAC has had many conversations with sister-institutions, younger and older, about what an art structure can do in times like the ones we are passing through, how we can pool resources, ideas, people together in the service of modes of social organizations already in formation in the city. With that in mind, BAC extended the invitation to 4 other institutions, so that they may in turn each choose one artist to contribute to the exhibition in Dresden. We are happy to see that the exhibition is finally coming to light with projects from 5 local artists.
Our rooftop garden has also been very active over the last few months. We have hosted concerts and performances with 11 musicians. Throughout October and November, we held a series of workshops in our garden based on skill sharing and introducing participants to the basics of craft and technical work. Ranging from culinary, artistic, and agricultural skills using natural resources, the six workshops were developed in line with the aims of our garden, to galvanize local practitioners and cooperatives while relying on sharing and rethinking our know-hows as spaces to propose alternative micro-economies.
We are happy to finalize our third issue of The Derivative, our online publication. We thank our three guest editors who explored their theme beautifully. This issue had texts from 18 contributors and new commissions from 7 artists. This issue and past ones are fully accessible online in both Arabic and English at our website www.thederivative.org
We are closing off the year happy with the many collaborations we've made, projects launched, and new friends of BAC. Thank you for your continuous support!
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By Rana Nasser Eddin | Project Member
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