Artist talk with Akram Zaatari
in conversation with Daniel Berndt
University of Zurich (Zoom), Wednesday, 29.09.2021, 6:15pm, online (Zoom)
In his work the Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari mainly reflects on the technical parameters and social political conditions of historical and contemporary image production. In relation to the history of the Middle East and Lebanon, he is on the one hand particularly interested in the role of media and images during territorial conflicts and wars. As co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation, which has the objective to preserve and research the photographic heritage of the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab diaspora, Zaatari on the other hand explores and discusses photographic conventions in the region. In addition, he often negotiates representations of masculinity and male sexuality in the Arab world.
Resistance, memory, aspects of the documentary and desire are therefore core themes of Zaatari's oeuvre, which includes photography, installations, curatorial practices as well as film and video.
Within the framework of the lecture series Video art – digital. A paradigm shift the artist will talk with Daniel Berndt about his use of moving images from the mid-1990s to today, which involves the use of both analog and digital video technology.
Akram Zaatari was born in Saida, Lebanon in 1966. He lives and works in Beirut. Together with Fouad Elkoury and Samer Mohdad he founded the Arab Image Foundation in 1997. His work has been presented in numerous international solo and group exhibitions such as documenta13 (2012) and the Venice Biennale (2013). They are part of institutional collections such as Center Pompidou, Paris; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; K21 Düsseldorf; MACBA, Barcelona; MoMA, New York; Tate Modern, London and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
The talk will take place online via Zoom. To receive the link please send an e-mail to: .