Akram Zaatari

Akram Zaatari has produced more than fifty films and videos, all sharing an interest in writing histories, pursuing a range of interconnected themes, subjects, and practices related to excavation, political resistance, the lives of former militants, the legacy of an exhausted left, the circulation of images in times of war, and the play of tenses inherent to various letters that have been lost, found, buried, discovered, or otherwise delayed in reaching their destinations. Zaatari has played a critical role in developing the formal, intellectual, and institutional infrastructure of Beirut’s contemporary art scene. As a co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation, he has made invaluable and uncompromising contributions to the wider discourse on preservation and archival practice. Zaatari represented Lebanon at the Venice Biennial in 2013 with his film Letter to a Refusing Pilot. His work has been exhibited widely and internationally including at Documenta13 in 2012.

Photographic Currency

Akram Zaatari gathered dozens of photographs depicting traditional quilts, all photographed by Hashem el Madani in Saida’s old souks in the early 1950’s. Very often, makers of traditional quilts would be photographed standing next to their creations as a testimony to their work. The pictures, which were intended to keep a record of the stitched patterns as a reference for future clients looking to order quilts, provide one of the earliest local examples of photography being used to catalog inventory in a small-scale industry, serving a relatively small market. The title refers to the use of existing photography to intervene in the marketplace and revive a disappearing tradition, thus using La Vitrine for what a vitrine is typically used for: the display and promotion of commercial goods. Photographic Currency engages in a performative act that is based on archival material. Not only does it revive designs and a tradition, but it also exposes makers’ work to the public, connecting them directly to a potential market.