The »Visual Arts Festival Damascus« will present a selection of videos and documentaries from its three preceding editions at ZKM with a special focus on independent productions from Syria. Characteristic of all these works are their high degree of artistic and social engagement of the young artists from the Arab countries and Turkey.

Around the region, young artists have been engaged in the civic struggle for individual rights and freedom and this engagement has also found its way into many recent art works. The search for new definitions of social and cultural identities and roles, the need to create new notions of belonging and a general turn towards centering the human experience within artistic practice are questions that occupy a large place within recent practice.

Since its launch in Damascus in 2010, the aim of the Visual Arts Festival Damascus has been to create a platform for meetings and debates focusing on contemporary visual practice in the Middle East and to encourage and facilitate exchange between young artists in Syria and the neighbouring Arab countries as well as internationally. When the Syrian uprising began in 2011, the Visual Arts Festival Damascus became nomadic, keeping the name of the festival as it was, as a statement of the connection to Damascus as the home town of this festival. For the 2012 edition the festival was hosted by the International Film Festival Rotterdam, as part of the »Power Cut Middle East« program with a focus on moving images. The edition of 2013, hosted by DEPO in Istanbul, presented a program consisting of an exhibition, video screenings, talks and workshops focusing on digital arts.
 

Program

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Screening 1
e. belit sag: You Loved Her, 2012 ( 2:27 Min.)
Turkey with english subtitles

Sirine Fattouh: Love Talk II, 2009 (4:41 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Maryam SamaanLa Ville Amoureuse, 2012 (3:51 Min.)
Without Dialogue

Madonna Adib: Demain l'adieu, 2012 (2:00 Min.)
French with english subtitles

Christophe Katrib: Message From an Alien, 2012 (10:15 Min.)
English

Screening 2
Baris Eviz: Lost/Kayip, 2011 (3:37 Min.)
Without Dialogue

Paul Hage Boutros: Gun, 2012 (6:17 Min)
Without Dialogue

Bass Breche: Both, 2007 (11:00 Min.)
Without Dialogue

Mohanad Yacoubi: Exit, 2009 (10:00 Min.)
Without Dialogue

Marwa Arsanios: I've Heard Three Stories, 2009 (13:00 Min.) 
Arabic with english subtitles

Screening 3
Özden Demir: Net 17950, 2012 (8:52 Min.)
Turkey with english subtitles

Roy Samaha: Transparent Evil, 2011 (27:00 Min.)
English and Arabic

Artikişler (Wasted Works Video Collective): An Ankara Resistance, 2012 (8:37 Min.)

Screening 4
Mayye Zayed: Iskanderia, 2012 (8:00 Min.)
Arabic and Greek with english subtitles

Ali Cherri: Pipe Dreams, 2011 (6:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Screening 5
Ammar Al-Beik: The Sun's Incubator, 2011 (12 Min.)
Arabic and French with english subtitles

Ghassan Halwani: Jibraltar, 2005 (15 Min.)
Without Dialogue

Deniz Üster: 69, 2012 (29:30 Min.)
 

Fri, January 17, 2014

Screening 6
Reem Ali: Foam, 2006 (46:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Soudade Kaadan: Two Cities and a Prison, 2008 (38:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Screening 7
Mohammad Ali Atassi: Cousin, 2011 (50:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Hazem Alhamwi: Stone Bird, 2006 (30:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Screening 8
Rami Farah: Silence, 2006 (40:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Ammar Al-Beik: They Were Here, 2000 (8:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

Joude Gorani: Before Vanishing, 2005 (14:00 Min.)
Arabic with english subtitles

 

Credits

• Bernhard Serexhe (Director)
• Charlotte Bank (Curator)
• Delphine Leccas (Curator)