Part of Mono No Aware XVIII - LIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TUNNEL" : INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM TWO INSTALLATIONS & PERFORMANCES
THIS DISSONANCE / 16MM EXPANDED CINEMA PERFORMANCE CHRISTOPHE KATRIB ( RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES)
THIS DISSONANCE, Infinite "American" landscapes mesh with ominous music while Palestinian and Lebanese voices permeate through poetry, hope, and pain. This film is an homage to the precious souls lost and the beautiful voices speaking out around the world. It is a poetic, visceral, raw expression of the dissonance I feel in the U.S. as an Arab person - in a majestic Land, itself taken violently some hundreds of years ago - witnessing from afar as U.S-backed Israel commits genocide and ethnic cleansing on Palestine and my homeland of Lebanon.
From CHRISTOPHE KATRIB "I’m an artist/filmmaker and educator from Beirut, Lebanon living in the U.S since 2013. I initially came here on a Fulbright scholarship and received my MFA in Photographic and Electronic Media from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Through the years, my art has spanned video, photography, installation, 16mm film, sound, and music. Though I have been part of several group exhibitions, artist workshops, residencies, and film screenings in Lebanon, the U.S, and around the world, these past eight years have been mostly dedicated to guiding students through the process of honing their skills and expressing their voices and stories through art and filmmaking. I have taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, George Washington University, and I’m currently part of the Theatre, Film, and Digital Production department at UC Riverside in Southern California. The one thing I’ve kept doing for myself during this whole time is shooting 16mm film. This latest project brings together footage from rolls I’ve shot over the last decade."
The work also includes contributions from fellow Lebanese and Palestinian artists:
Audio from "Stronger Hearts" instagram reel (Written and recorded by Areej Kaoud. Her instagram reel is copyrighted to her, used with her consent in this film) AREEJ KAOUD is a Palestinian visual artist raised in Gaza, Palestine and Montreal, Canada. Her practice draws on her research in diaspora psychology and creating narratives. Kaoud’s art practice includes text, sound, performance, painting and installation to comment on disastrous scenarios and survivalist mentalities. Kaoud’s art projects articulate the distance between anxiety, vigilance and even humour which are all a part of the preparations undertaken for non-immediate threats.
Computer drone instrument (crafted by Mohamed Choucair using the sounds of Israeli drones that constantly hover over Beirut - to be used live with his consent during the screening/performance) MOHAMED CHOUCAIR is a Lebanese multidisciplinary artist specialized in film and audio, well practiced as a performer and music industry professional. He is a member of the online Palestinian radio station, Radio Alhara.
Live violin by Layale Chaker. Composer and violinist LAYALE CHAKER was raised on the verge of multiple musical streams in her native Lebanon. Her complex sound universe, described by NPR as “beguiling” with “bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls,” lies at the intersection of classical contemporary music, jazz, Arabic music, and improvisation. Her practice is committed to art as both sanctuary and crossroads—a place where ancestral narratives meet contemporary voices in a continuous reimagination of the world we inherit, live in and bequeath. Recent projects include a double album release on In a Circle Records, a world premiere at the Venice Biennale 2024, the premiere of her debut opera at Spoleto Festival and of a double concerto commissioned by the New York Philharmonic.
Live poetry by Ghinwa Jawhari. GHINWA JAWHARI is the author of the chapbook BINT (2021), which was selected by Aria Aber for Radix Media's inaugural Own Voices Chapbook Prize. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman and the Asian American Writers' Workshop, she is the founding editor of Koukash Review. Her essays, fiction, and poetry appear in Al Rawiya, Catapult, Mizna, The Adroit Journal, Rusted Radishes, The Margins, Narrative, and elsewhere.
N.B. Thank you to Najla Said and Hind Shoufani for consulting and helping me connect with local NYC artists for this performance/screening.