Ayyam
Gallery, Beirut is pleased to invite you to the
opening reception of
Mohamad Badr's "Bloody Streets; The Manifestation
of Power, Nabatiyeh,
Lebanon" on Thursday, April 19 from 7-9 pm.
till 20 May 2012
Mohamad
Badr, award-winning Lebanese social entrepreneur
and photographer, turns his lens to capture a local
tradition in this superb exhibition. Presenting
two photographic projections and ten printed photographs
taken during the 2011 Ashoura rituals in Nabatiyeh
alongside the actual tools employed by the participants
in this ritual, ‘The Power of…’ will immerse visitors
in this multi-level experience, transporting them
to stand alongside those who engaged in the ritual
and share their experience. Engaging visitors, this
exhibition asks the viewer to question this cultural
experience and the form of power at play, ultimately
questioning the very essence of power, how it manifests
and influences and whether such power is a positive
or negative force.
Badr’s
images consistently conjure the poetic and precisely
illustrate lucid moments with sharp eloquence. A
veritable visual storyteller and a firsthand witness,
Badr’s lens has chronicled a plethora of scenes
such as the overwhelming Shivaratri rituals and
the deafening scenes of emotionless public human
cremations. He has documented the daily lives of
locals in remote and extraordinary places stretching
between Azaz on the Syrian/Turkish borders, and
all the way to the Himalayas.
Born
in 1981, Mohamad Badr is an award-winning Lebanese
social entrepreneur, photographer and poet with
a background in Marketing and Management. Creator
of ‘Lakum Hamra2akoum wa Li Hamra2i’, the first
professional photography project in Lebanon in 2009,
and the acclaimed photography project, ‘Mosaic:
Achrafieh International Photography Contest’, Lebanon’s
first and largest international photography competition
in 2010. In 2011, Mohamad Badr was awarded the Live
Achrafieh Honorary Award for his contribution to
the community. With his 2011 series, ‘Prayer of
Light’, he placed among the top 5 winners in the
Pan-Arab Shabab Ayyam Photography competition. In
2012, his series, ‘Bloody Streets – Manifestation
of Power’ was nominated for the Prix Pictet. Badr’s
diverse photographic oeuvre of story telling, photo-documentary,
glamour and visual poetry is represented by Ayyam
Gallery. The artist will be in attendance during
the opening to meet and discuss his work.
From
beautifully staged monochrome fashion photography,
to playfully encasing the sun’s orb in a street
lamp, immortalizing the shadows caressing a wall,
and evoking the desolation of a train station, the
memory of a scent or a provocative look, Badr’s
images consistently conjure the poetic and precisely
illustrate lucid moments with sharp eloquence. A
veritable visual storyteller and a firsthand witness,
Badr turned his lens to chronicle a plethora of
scenes as overwhelming as the Shivaratri rituals,
and the deafening scenes of emotionless public human
cremations. He has documented the daily lives of
locals in remote and extraordinary places stretching
between Azaz on the Syrian/Turkish borders, and
all the way to the Himalayas.
In
this unique interactive installation, ‘The Power
of…’ on show at Ayyam Gallery, Beirut from April
19 till May 18 2012, Badr’s lens bears witness once
more to a local tradition. Presenting two photographic
projections and ten printed photographs taken during
the 2011 Ashoura rituals in Nabatiyeh, south of
Beirut in Lebanon alongside the actual tools employed
by the participants in this ritual, ‘The Power of…’
will immerse visitors in this multi-level experience,
transporting them to stand alongside those who engaged
in the ritual and share their experience. Engaging
visitors interactively, this exhibition asks the
viewer to question this cultural experience and
the form of power at play, ultimately questioning
the very essence of power, how it manifests and
influences and whether such power is a positive
or negative force.
The
photographs comprising this exhibition have been
nominated for the 2012 cycle of the ‘Prix Pictet’,
the world’s leading photographic award in sustainability.
What might be considered by some as shocking is
a simple and natural reality for others. The art
of the image lies less in their ability to shock
and more in the attempt to portray a reality that's
distinctly red and white onto the consciousness
of the beholder. The viewer is unable to escape
scenes of people powerfully self-flagellating juxtaposed
with those willingly cut with razors upon their
skulls, mourning women clad in black, falling tears
and the unsettling stare of turquoise eyes that
gaze through a blood stained face towards a different
reality; a reality that both exerts power over yet
also empowers them with the will to live through
a bath of their own blood and the prejudiced eyes
of the world.
Since
opening in 2006 Ayyam Gallery has become one of
the most prominent galleries in the Middle East,
with four exhibition spaces throughout the region,
notably in Syria, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.
Ayyam Gallery proudly represents some of today's
most recognized emerging and established Arab artists.
For
interviews with the artist or any further details,
please contact Ayyam Gallery, Beirut, email beirut@ayyamgallery.com
- Beirut Tower, Ground Floor, Zeitoune Street. Across
from Beirut Marina - Solidere - Beirut, Lebanon
T:
+961 1 374450/51
F: +961 1 374449
